Time Travel Thursday is a weekly meme hosted by Budget Tales Book Blog where readers take a look back at what they were reading this time last year (or the year before or the year before that…) and compare it to what you are reading now.
18 April 2024
One year ago today I was reading this fantastic historical fiction novel about the doomed SS Morro Castle.
Currently Reading:
Today I’m finishing up this hilarious rom-com! So glad I checked it out after seeing a Facebook ad.
Comparison:
One book is historical fiction and the other is a fluffy rom-com. They have virtually nothing in common, although The Cuban Heiress does have a romantic subplot as well. One is set in the past, the other presumably fairly recently as the author mentions Taylor Swift’s eras tour. One is about a tragedy, the other is about a man who falls in love with the woman he hired to be his surrogate.
WWW Wednesday was created by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and was taken over by Sam at Taking on a World of Words. To participate answer the 3 W’s:
What are you currently reading? What did you recently finish reading? What do you think you’ll read next?
Currently Reading:
Good Bad Girl by Alice Feeney
I started this one on the plane to Charleston yesterday and I’m about 25% into it right now. To be honestly I wasn’t following it too well, it’s not one of my favorites by Alice Feeney. We’ll see if that changes.
Nine Month Contract by Amy Daws
I’m about 75% through this one and loving it! It’s hilarious and steamy! I can’t wait for the next book already.
Recently Finished:
Mind Games by Nora Roberts
I finished this one last week and I loved it! It comes out on May 21st so be sure to check it out!
Lord Edgware Dies by Agatha Christie
This was an alright read. I feel like Agatha kind of fakes us out in this one. The killer is obvious but Poirot claims it can’t be so only for… *spoiler* it to be so.
Reading Next:
Murder Road by Simone St. James
This one is next up on my audiobook TBR and I’m excited to start listening!
Have you read any of these? What are you reading this week? What books would you bring on vacation?
What if you thought you murdered your best friend? And if everyone else thought so too? And what if the truth doesn’t matter?
After Lucy is found wandering the streets, covered in her best friend Savvy’s blood, everyone thinks she is a murderer. Lucy and Savvy were the golden girls of their small Texas town: pretty, smart, and enviable. Lucy married a dream guy with a big ring and an even bigger new home. Savvy was the social butterfly loved by all, and if you believe the rumors, especially popular with the men in town. It’s been years since that horrible night, a night Lucy can’t remember anything about, and she has since moved to LA and started a new life.
But now the phenomenally huge hit true crime podcast “Listen for the Lie,” and its too-good looking host Ben Owens, have decided to investigate Savvy’s murder for the show’s second season. Lucy is forced to return to the place she vowed never to set foot in again to solve her friend’s murder, even if she is the one that did it.
My Review:
When a book is called by multiple reviewers, bookstagrammers, and booktokers the “best thriller of the year” you know I had to check it out.
I got the audiobook, narrated by January LaVoy (my favorite audiobook narrator) and Will Damron.
I immediately got pulled into the story which goes back and forth between present-day Lucy, 5 years ago Lucy, and clips from Ben Owens’s podcast Listen for the Lie.
Lucy is sarcastic, which I loved. She’s been so dogged down by everyone (including herself) believing that she killed her best friend that she’s a little rough around the edges and doesn’t trust easily.
Then there is Ben. Charismatic, attractive – Lucy should steer clear of him and yet they form a tenuous friendship which blooms into more. But what will happen when it’s time for the podcast to end? Will Ben say Lucy is guilty? Or will her buried memories of that night five years ago remind her what really happened and who killed Savvy?
Add in a meddling grandmother and I’m sold.
I devoured this book and it’s definitely in the top three of the thrillers I’ve read so far this year.
Every Time I Go on Vacation Someone Dies (Vacation Mysteries Book 1) by Catherine Mack
Adult, Cozy Mystery, Thriller, The Vacation Mysteries #1)
eBook, Hardcover, Audiobook, 352 Pages
April 30, 2024 by Minotaur Books
Blurb:
Ten days, eight suspects, six cities, five authors, three bodies . . . one trip to die for.
“Quick, captivating, and oh-so-much-fun! This delicious mystery is as spellbinding as Knives Out.”—Elle Cosimano, New York Times bestselling author of the Finlay Donovan series
All that bestselling author Eleanor Dash wants is to get through her book tour in Italy and kill off her main character, Connor Smith, in the next in her Vacation Mysteries series—is that too much to ask?
Clearly, because when an attempt is made on the real Connor’s life—the handsome but infuriating con man she got mixed up with ten years ago and now can’t get out of her life—Eleanor’s enlisted to help solve the case.
Contending with literary competitors, rabid fans, a stalker—and even her ex, Oliver, who turns up unexpectedly—theories are bandied about, and rivalries, rifts, and broken hearts are revealed. But who’s really trying to get away with murder?
Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies is the irresistible and hilarious series debut from Catherine Mack, introducing bestselling fictional author Eleanor Dash on her Italian book tour that turns into a real-life murder mystery, as her life starts to imitate the world in her books.
My Review:
Look no further for your next favorite vacation read! Seriously, this is the book you’ll be sticking in your carry on, throwing in beach bags, and glued to the pages of this spring and summer!
Bestselling author Eleanor Dash is plotting a murder. The murder of her main character in her bestselling series, that is. What? Agatha Christie did it to Hercule Poirot.
Now on a book tour in Italy with her assistant/sister who always dreamed of being an author, her ex Connor – the inspiration behind her most famous character who has been blackmailing her since before the first book hit the shelves, Connor’s ex-wife (oops), Eleanor’s other ex Oliver, and a gaggle of other authors that have all risen to fame in the wake of the crime that inspired Eleanor’s first book – and did I mention a group of Eleanor’s “biggest fans” who couldn’t pick her out of a line up… things are just a wee bit complicated and crowded. Add in an attempt on Connor’s life and things are about to get a lot more interesting in Italy…
This book was so much fun! Everything you could ask for out of a fun vacation mystery. There was humor, suspense, old jealousies brought to light, and a little bit of heat. I also loved the author’s footnotes and the Poirot references.
I can’t wait for the next book to see where Eleanor will end up next! I’m just glad nobody dies when I go on vacation 😂😉
The #1 New York Times-bestselling author of Identity presents a suspenseful new novel of tragedy and trauma, love and family, and the evil that awaits.
As they do each June, the Foxes have driven the winding roads of Appalachia to drop off their children for a two-week stay at their grandmother’s. Here, twelve-year-old Thea can run free and breathe in the smells of pine and fresh bread and Grammie’s handmade candles. But as her parents head back to suburban Virginia, they have no idea they’re about to cross paths with a ticking time bomb.
Back in Kentucky, Thea and her grandmother Lucy both awaken from the same nightmare. And though the two have never discussed the special kind of sight they share, they know as soon as their tearful eyes meet that something terrible has happened.
The kids will be staying with Grammie now in Redbud Hollow, and thanks to Thea’s vision, their parents’ killer will spend his life in supermax. Over time, Thea will make friends, build a career, find love. But that ability to see into minds and souls still lurks within her, and though Grammie calls it a gift, it feels more like a curse―because the inmate who shattered her childhood has the same ability. Thea can hear his twisted thoughts and witness his evil acts from miles away. He knows it, and hungers for vengeance. A long, silent battle will be waged between them―and eventually bring them face to face, and head to head…
My Review:
There was a space and time where Nora Roberts was one of my go-to authors but over time I’ve gotten off track. Mind Games was the perfect book to dive back into one of my all-time favorite authors.
Thea reminds me a little of Tory Bodeen from Carolina Moon with her psychic gift, I kept thinking so all the way through and since that is one of my favorites by this author I really enjoyed it.
Thea, Rem, and Grammie endure a great tragedy but thanks to Thea’s gift the police are easily able to capture the man who killed her parents. But when Thea’s gift links her to the killer who shares the same gift and has twisted it into an ugly, cruel thing, it will open a door that Thea will battle to keep closed for years to come.
I love how the author always builds up a great group of supporting characters for her main character. I also loved Thea’s bond with her grandmother. It reminds me of the bond I had with my late grandmother and I got emotional reading this one at times.
I loved Thea’s chemistry with Ty and Ty’s son’s bond with Thea’s dog, Bunk. They all fit together so well. I also loved the setting of this book. It made me want to buy a cabin in the woods of Kentucky.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I thought it was well written, the characters were well developed, and the setting was easy to picture. My only draw back was that the showdown at the end seemed a little rushed, but not enough to ruin the reading experience.
Top Ten Tuesday: April Showers – Books with Rain on the Cover
This week’s TTT is all about books with rain on the cover or in the title, or books with storms in them or anything to do with rain. We’ll see how many I can get… I may do a mixture of rain on the cover and storms in the story! This would be so much easier if it was snow…
1. No Strangers Here by Carlene O’Conner
2. The Search Party by Hannah Richell
3. Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Canas
I’m cheating… this has lightning on the cover but no rain. Close enough!
4. Summer Rental by Rektok Ross
5. Good Bad Girl by Alice Feeney
6. The Guest List by Lucy Foley
7. Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout
We’re just going to say lightning counts..😋
8. Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney
Book with a storm in it ⬆️
9. Ten by Gretchen McNeil
Another book with a storm in it ⬆️
10. Becoming Rain by K.A. Tucker
Rain in the title.
What books did you pick for this prompt? Did you find it hard or easy?
Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings, to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they’re books that have yet to be released.
Granite Harbor by Peter Nichols
Thriller, Standalone
eBook, Hardcover, 320 pages
April 30, 2024 from Celadon Books
Blurb:
A small town in coastal Maine is under threat from a serial killer in this crime novel from Peter Nichols – bestselling author of The Rocks
In scenic Granite Harbor on the coast of Maine, life has continued on–quiet and serene–for decades. That is until a local teenager’s body is found brutally murdered and hung in The Settlement, the town’s historic archaeological site. The way the body is displayed, hung from a handmade wooden structure, and the singular gruesome clue left inside the corpse, signal that this might not have been the killer’s first victim.
Alex Brangwen is adjusting to life as a single father and the town’s sole detective after a failed career as a novelist. This is his first murder case, and as both a parent and detective, Alex knows the people of Granite Harbor are looking to him to catch the killer and temper the fear that has descended over the town. But his skills as a detective are rudimentary, and he worries that they are more novelist’s intuition than investigator’s expertise.
Isabel, a single mother attempting to support her family while healing from her own demons, finds herself in the middle of the case when she begins working at The Settlement. Her son Ethan, and Alex’s daughter Sophie, were best friends with the victim. When another teenager is found murdered, the body left with the same gruesome detail, both parents are terrified that their child may be next.
As Alex and Isabel race to find the killer in their midst, the town’s secrets, past and present, begin bubbling to the surface, threatening to unravel the tight-knit community. At once a page-turning thriller and a captivating portrait of the social fabric of a small town, Granite Harbor evokes the place and atmosphere of a Jane Harper mystery with a terrifying villain reminiscent of Thomas Harris’s Buffalo Bill.
Why I Want to Read This Book:
You can imagine with an upcoming trip to Maine coming up this fall, I’m definitely in the mood to read books set there. I’m intrigued by the historical archaeological site and the killer sounds downright chilling. I also find it interesting that the detective is a “failed” novelist – I think that might make him even more dimensional as a main character. I might save this one for my fall trip to New England and read it on the plane if I can make myself wait!
Will you be checking this one out? What upcoming releases are you looking forward to?
#IMWAYR is a weekly meme started on J Kaye’s blog and then was hosted by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at The Book Date.
Last Week I Read:
No Strangers Here by Carlene O’Connor
I enjoyed this one and I’m looking forward to the other book I picked up by this author. I liked that there was a little humor mixed in with the thriller. Kerrygold Irish Butter and a rabbit stuck in a vase… 😂
The New Couple in 5B by Lisa Unger
I love, love, loved this one! It was so addictive I ended up listening to it over 3 nights.
This Wretched Valley by Jenny Kiefer
If you like horror, you have to read this book! A wonderful debut!
Currently Reading:
Murder at the Mena House by Erica Ruth Neubauer
I’m about 75 pages into this one and loving it. I like the setting and the main character! I’m excited to see where this one goes and can already tell I will continue the series.
Next Read:
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie
My last audiobook borrow of the month, this will be my next audiobook listen that I plan to start tomorrow.
What are you reading this week? Do you ever buy books in multiple formats (physical and audiobook for example like I did with The New Couple in 5B)?
The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme.
Book Opportunity, Get Togethers, and St. Patrick’s Day
Hey Bookdragons! Happy Sunday! How was your week?
Tuesday we reached the lower 70s and it was such a gorgeous day I took a drive down to an indie bookstore an hour from my house. While I was paying for the horror novel I was buying I got to talking about my own books and the employee told me I should bring a copy of one of my books in and they might want to stock it.
Thursday I met with a few of my mom’s friends for an early St. Patrick’s Day dinner out (and since I’m pescatarian I stuck to just grilled cheese instead of corned beef). It was nice to have a meal with someone again since I’ve been solo since my mom passed in August except for a work lunch last month.
Also, Happy St. Patrick’s Day! The police department in the neighboring town that goes all out for the holiday had quite the eventful night last night from what I could hear listening to the sheriff’s department’s channel at work last night. I’m going to see if I can snag a leftover load of soda bread from the grocery store this afternoon and call it a day 😂
I skipped Time Travel Thursday due to not having an active book on March 14th in the past 2 years. I also skipped Book Blogger Hop.
🔪 Stacking the Shelves (below in joint post)
Next Week on the Blog:
🔪 It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? – 18 March 2024
🔪 Can’t Wait Wednesday: Granite Harbor (rescheduled from last week due to cover reveal)
🔪 Time Travel Thursday (if I have a book for that date)
🔪 Book Blogger Hop: Do you remember your first library visit?
🔪 Stacking the Shelves
Stacking the Shelves
Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Reading Reality. Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual.
Physical:
I picked up a physical copy of The New Couple in 5B as I was finishingup the audiobook because I loved it so much.
This Wretched Valley was the book I was buyingat that indie bookstore and I already devoured it! It was such a fantastic eerie read! If you like horror this is a must.
#IMWAYR is a weekly meme started on J Kaye’s blog and then was hosted by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at The Book Date.
Hey Book Blogger Friends! Happy Monday! I’ve been busy reading the last week and a half and now I’m spending a couple days relaxing, reading, and binging movies.
Recently I Read:
Anna of Kleve: The Princess in the Portrait by Alison Weir
As predicted, this was my favorite of the series. I just loved Anna’s story so much.
In the Hall With the Knife by Diana Peterfreund
I once again enjoyed my reread of this one. I’ll have to finish my reread of the next two soon.
Katheryn Howard: The Scandalous Queen by Alison Weir
I enjoyed this one and felt sorry for Katheryn (unlike her cousin Anne Boleyn). She was very much a young girl preyed upon and used by people she was supposed to trust and it ended tragically for her.
One Poison Pie by Lynn Cahoon
I picked this one up at a cozy mystery author event on the 3rd. Sadly Lynn was sick and unable to leave the hotel to attend but her books were available. I enjoyed this one and will continue the series in time.
Katharine Parr: The Sixth Wife by Alison Weir
After an intense 6 weeks in saying goodbye to the Six Tudor Queens series, still as obsessed as ever though. Sadly Katharine Parr’s story was my least favorite. There was such a small window of her life with Henry VIII and neither the dragging earlier section of her life before marrying Henry VII nor the year and change after he died held my interest too much.
Currently Reading:
No Strangers Here by Carlene O’Connor
I’m just starting this one and I’m excited. It’s another book I picked up at the Cozy Mystery book event. I did get to meet Carlene and she was so nice!
Next Read:
The New Couple in 5B by Lisa Unger
This is my next audiobook borrow from my library’s Hoopla system. I’m really looking forward to this one.
What are you reading this week? Have you read any of these?
Taylor Fenner's Bookish World 