🟣 :::READING THREAD::: Week of March 10

This week, I read The Passengers by John Marrs which was a very "Black Mirror" style book about the dangers of AI and driverless cars. I'd give it 4/5 stars but it was definitely a page turner

I'm currently reading Listen For The Lie by Amy Tintera. I kept seeing the ad on my FB page so I thought I'd give it a try. It's pretty decent as well. I'm almost done and I've enjoyed it. If you like murder mysteries, I'd check it out. 4/5 stars.

I read three and DNF'd a couple.

1. The Phoenix Crown: This a joint book with Kate Quinn and Janie Chang. Loved the writing by both authors. Very well-done. 4/5 stars

2. The Devil's Advocate: Cavanagh does it again! What a nail biter! There's so much corruption in the small town, you wonder if it will ever get cleaned up. But leave it to Eddie and the team to save the day. 5/5 stars

3. The Inmate by Frieda: I binged this in less than 12 hours! One part had me confused, though. I agree with everyone who said that Brooke was the queen of poor choices.
That epilogue was perfect. Whew. 4/5 stars.

Lisa

I finished Reckless Creed by Alex Kava, #3 in the Ryder Creed series. I always like them as thrillers/dog interactions with Ryder. 4/5 stars

I tried to start 2 other books but couldn't get into them so I'm on Ryder Creed book #4 Lost Creed.

I just finished The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon. Wow. What an amazing book. I couldn't put it down. Definitely 5 stars. I didn't know it was closely based on the real Martha Ballard. I highly recommend!

I read The Good Left Undone by Adriana Trigiani. What an amazing story! 4 stars from me.
Matelda, the Cabrelli family's matriarch, has always been brusque and opinionated. Now, as she faces the end of her life, she is determined to share a long-held secret with her family about her own mother's great love story: with her childhood friend, Silvio, and with dashing Scottish sea captain John Lawrie McVicars, the father Matelda never knew.
In the halcyon past, Domenica Cabrelli thrives in the coastal town of Viareggio until her beloved home becomes unsafe when Italy teeters on the brink of World War II. Her journey takes her from the rocky shores of Marseille to the mystical beauty of Scotland to the dangers of wartime Liverpool where Italian Scots are imprisoned without cause as Domenica experiences love, loss, and grief while she longs for home. A hundred years later, her daughter, Matelda, her granddaughter, Anina, face the same big questions about life and their family's legacy, while Matelda contemplates what is worth fighting for. But Matelda is running out of time, and the two timelines intersect and weave together in unexpected and heartbreaking ways that lead the family to shocking revelations and, ultimately, redemption.

So many beautiful stories, characters weaved together in a stunning novel.

I read The Assassin's Blade by Sarah J Maas. It is a sequel, of sorts, to the Throne of Glass series. Quick and easy and I liked knowing the background now to read forward.

I also read Jill Duggar Dillard Count the Cost. Oh my gosh, I mean, we all knew ole' Jim was straight on controlling and manipulative and this book just nailed it on into the coffin. Jill does briefly talk about Josh with his "issues" and it took years for her to realize how wrong the dad was in dealing with it. I can't give the book a review as I was so angry every time I would listen to it. It just feels ick to give it a review.

Good reading week for me………..



THE PHANTOM CHILD (‘24 - 4 STARS) BY A.J. WILLS 
DESCRIPTION : After a difficult few months, Karina's looking forward to a short break in Turkey with her husband and four-year-old son, Jacob. The marriage has been showing signs of strain lately, so it’ll be a chance to relax, enjoy some good food, and more importantly, reconnect with the people she loves the most.
But on their first morning, Karina is startled to discover she’s slept in late. Where’s Jacob? He’s usually an early riser who likes to tumble into their bed first thing, pestering them to make him breakfast. She rushes to his room, but his bed is empty and he’s nowhere to be found in the villa. Frantic with worry, she raises the alarm with her husband …… I’ve stopped the published description here because I didn’t want to spoil where this book is going.

REVIEW :

First book by this author for me; description grabbed me. His wife is A.J. McDine who also writes thrillers but I have never read.

Enjoyed the writing and felt this was a real psychological thriller. I thought the mom’s role, Karina, wasn’t believable at all, but who am I to say. I did enjoy the twists that kept coming to the very end, which lead to this 4-star rating. Would definitely read another book by this author.



THE COLLEAGUES (‘24 - 275 PGS - 4 STARS) BY DANIEL HURST
DESCRIPTION : I used to enjoy my job. I was good at it and felt fulfilled. I also used to enjoy spending time with the people I worked with. They say you spend more time with your work colleagues than you do with your family members, but that was fine by me because I made two very good friends at the office. I also allowed myself to get a little too close to my boss, but I soon realised that was a mistake. Unfortunately, it was too late by then, and as my personal and professional lives quickly blurred into one, that was when everything changed.
My workplace became the scene for plotting, revenge and murder, but none of us were cut out for things like that. We were just three colleagues who became friends before things went too far. But there was no going back from what we did. We could only hope that we would get away with it. But not all of us would.

REVIEW :

First 3 books by this author for me were The Couple’s Revenge (‘24 - 4 Stars), Her Husband’s Mistake (‘23 - ONLY 217 PGS - 4 STARS) and The Intruder (‘22 - 270 Pgs - 3 Stars).

Even though some of this author’s books are a little short, I like his writing and his plots. This book just got better and better. A couple of “jumps” in the storyline but I didn’t think it took away from the book as a whole. Quick, enjoyable read.



Happy Reading !

I just think her books are so so fun!

I was one of “those” peas who did not love this book; 3 stars for me.  Reviews on Amazon and Goodreads seem to be almost even between 3-5 stars.  So lots of mixed reviews.  Here’s my review from when I posted back in January…….

“First two books by this author were The Maidens (‘21 - 3 Stars) and The Silent Patient ('19 - 5 Stars).

I love how this author’s writing pulls you in, even if there’s not much going on and wraps you up so you can’t stop reading. During this authors interview on Good Morning America, he said he wrote this book totally different; he had no plan. He wanted to flip the murder mystery with stranded guests on an island plot on its head with lots of twists. At 50%, it’s only the flow of the author’s words that is keeping me reading; plot - not so much. The last 50% was very predictable for me; a couple of turns but nothing shocking. If you like murder mysteries, you might like this one more than me. I went with 3 stars for the author’s writing ALONE! If he didn’t have such a way with words, this book might have gotten 2 stars. If only he could find another plot as good as The Silent Patient - I’ll keep hoping !”