Literary Criticism
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Review: We Are All the Same in the Dark by Julia Heaberlin (Audible Edition)
Since I devoured my November book club pick in a matter of 2 days, as did just about everyone else in our book club. So we decided to pick a second book for November and this was it. I had seen a ton of praise for this book all over Goodreads and on my social media so I was eager to read this one and see if it was as chilling as everyone was saying. I haven’t had a really really really great thriller lately so I had high hopes with this book. I liked that the characters all had ‘issues’, whether it was emotional or physical impairments. I thought…
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Review: The Star-Crossed Sisters of Tuscany by Lori Nelson Spielman
Due to COVID this was a book whose release date got pushed back a couple of times so to be honest, I forgot about it for my fall reading! It was supposed to come out in September and I thought it would be a great book to close out of late summer reading with. But then it was pushed out until November and I simply forgot about it until I checked my reading calendar and saw it was time to start reading! Well….I take that back, I saw it was a Book of the Month pick for November and I was so excited because I knew it was coming up…
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Review: Gentleman Jim by Mimi Matthews
I haven’t met a Mimi Matthews book that I didn’t love and Gentleman Jim is no exception! I absolutely loved this one! Mimi Matthews is an auto-buy author for me. She always writes such wonderful romances with heart, chemistry, and they always leave me satisfied with a smile. I will say that I didn’t love the title of the book but when I read the author’s notes about why she went with Jim instead of Jack, I could understand but I still liked Gentleman Jack better. But no matter, Gentleman Jim is a large part of the story but not necessarily a principal character. If you love The Count of…
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Review: The Diabolical Bones (Brontë Sisters Mystery #2) by Bella Ellis
This is a series that could have gone so wrong or so right depending on the execution. The Bronte sisters as detectives? I just wasn’t sure when I first heard about it. But I am also a huge fan of all things Bronte so I decided to read the first book anyway. I am so glad I did, because I loved it! I worried that it would be hokey because the Bronte’s wrote romance rather than mystery so I just worried it wouldn’t translate well in this modern mashup of Brontes and murder. But it was great the first book was so fun and interesting that when the next book…
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Review: Spellbreaker (Spellbreaker Duology #1) by Charlie N Holmberg
I normally stay clear of duologies. For some reason they just feel unfinished and odd to me and historically I just haven’t enjoyed them as much as I have trilogies. But how could I pass on this cover? There was no way I was going to pass on this one because that cover it too stunning to not pick it up and read it! Plus I know that this author has written another successful series (The Paper Magician) that I have had my eye on for so so so long. I thought the book sounded like a quick easy read with a lot to recommend itself. I mean, how can…
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Review: The Residence by Andrew Pyper
Election Day was yesterday and I thought what better way to celebrate our right to vote by reading this horror novel about the White House and it’s ghosts. Regardless of who you voted for or if you are happy or sad about the outcome, this book is going to give you all the thrills and chills that politics are kind of known for and the best part is you don’t have to turn on the TV to get the thrills and chills…..open this book instead. It’s just as scary as modern politics. I was really drawn into this one because of the premise. I loved the setting and thought the…
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Review: Carrie by Stephen King
Every year in October my sister and I pick a book (or two) and do a buddy read. The last few years we have read a classic (Frankenstein which we both couldn’t finish) and then last year we read Stephen King’s novel, The Shining. This year we talked about reading something else but King and ultimately settled on Carrie because it was one of his shorter works and it was his very first novel to be picked up by a publisher. My book club also selected this one as our October read for many of the same reasons so it was nice to have a couple of opportunities to discuss…
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Review: The Death of Mrs Westaway by Ruth Ware (Audible Edition)
Ruth Ware has been on my radar for quite some time, especially this book. I wanted to read it last year for October but then got on to something else. I have wanted to pick it up several times this year but I have heard such mixed reviews that I just wasn’t sure which book to pick as my first Ruth Ware experience. Finally, after much debate, I just decided to go for it and read this book as my first Ruth Ware book since I loved the premise of the summary. It was an interesting read for me and not quite what I was expecting but yet at the…
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Review: In Case of Emergency by E. G. Scott
This book had so much potential for me. I loved the premise and I was excited to read it. It sounded like it was going to be quite the nail bitter and I think the cover has a lot of visual interest to grab readers right away. I love books like this where the main character is a suspect in the murder of a complete stranger. For some reason that troupe always draws me in because that has got to be someone’s worst nightmare. I mean, I don’t know what I would do if I was being treated as a person of interest in a murder of a person I…
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Re-Share Review: The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James
I can whole heartedly say that Simone St James is one of my favorite authors and she is an auto buy for me whenever she has something new coming out. I absolutely love all her spooky vibes and her books are always top notch. I have liked some better than others but this one was one of my absolute favs and now that it’s out in paperback I wanted to re-share my original review with you guys. The Sun Down Motel really took the cake for me. I loved the murder mystery as well as the supernatural elements and it’s a story that has stayed with me for quite some…