Weekly Reading Thread: Dec 29-Jan 4

I am reading The Perfect Love Song by Patti Callahan Henry. It’s a light, holiday read and I'm enjoying it for what it is. I was about halfway through it when I realized it was a sequel to a book I haven’t read. It stands on its own mostly but I think I would like it more if I had read the first book since it’s all the same characters.

I am trying to get through some books on my kindle so I read The Secrets She Keeps by Michael Robotham (purchased 2 year ago😬). I’m pretty critical when it comes to thrillers-I have a hard time suspending belief, but this was really good-quite a page turner. It’s told from two women’s points of view and their lives intersect. Won’t give away the plot, but 4+ stars.

A friend gave me a book with high recommendations: “Blind Your Ponies” by Stanley Gordon West, an author I’ve never read.
It was really good, over 500 pages, about a HS English teacher/basketball coach in a small, rural Montana town.
Lots of basketball, interesting characters and a great story, I read it in two days.

I finished Me by Elton John. I really liked it a lot. As I think I mentioned before, it seemed that he told his story truthfully, warts and all. I appreciated that. Plus, it was fascinating to relive events in history—AIDS epidemic, Diana’s death, Versace’s death, etc. I definitely recommend, especially if you were a fan of Elton.

I’m currently reading The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary. I’m not far into it but I’m liking it so far. I tend to read darker books and psychological thrillers. Between that and finally currently watching Game of Thrones with my husband after resisting for years, I need a break and some lightness. Picked this one up on a pea’s recommendation.

I’m listening to Watching You by Lisa Jewel. I’ve found her to be a good solid author and am enjoying this one so far. This one is a thriller (I can’t break from them altogether ). A murder has taken place at the very beginning. We aren’t sure who or by whom. The story then moves to the near past and there are all kinds of likely victims and suspects.

On deck I have a slew of library books and books on CD—The River by Peter Heller, Parting Shot by Linwood Barclay, The Marriage of Opposites by Alice Hoffman, The Stranger by Harlan Coben, The People Upstairs by Lisa Jewel, The Line Between by Tosca Lee, Kiss the Girls by Mary Higgins Clark, and The Girls in the Garden by Lisa Jewel. I’m going to be very busy for a long while.

I read the first installment in the Mitford Mysteries series (Jessica Fellowes, the author of the various Downton Abbey books) and am now on the second. I recommend them if you like historical mystery series (like the Maisie Dobbs series).

I'm putting this one on my TBR List.  If you liked this one, look at James Patterson's The Store.  It sounds very similar.

Two for me this busy holiday week.  Probably my last finished books for 2019. My total for 2019 was 111 Books.  


THE NIGHT OLIVIA FELL BY CHRISTINA MCDONALD  :  4 STARS
Description:  Abi Knight is startled awake by the phone call no mother ever wants to get - her teenage daughter Olivia has fallen off a bridge.  Not only is Olivia brain dead, she's pregnant and must remain on life support to keep her baby alive.  Her mom sees the angry bruises circling Olivia's wrists and the investigation begins.  
Review:  This was a 2Pea recommendation by "Rhondito" (enjoyed 3.5 stars) and "gottapeanow" (4 star tear jerker with great ending).  First book by this author for me but won't be the last.  Liked her writing; really kept the plot moving along with no boring parts.  No twists but a good story, a few tears and a solid ending.

FINAL GIRLS BY RILEY SAGER  :  4 STARS
Description:  Ten years ago, college student Quincy Carpenter went on vacation with 5 friends and came back alone, the only survivor of a horror movie-scale massacre.  In an instant, she became a member of a club no one wants to belong to - a group of similar survivors known in the press as the Final Girls.  Lisa who lost 9 sorority sisters to a college dropout's knife; Sam who went up against the Sack Man during her shift at the Nightlight Inn; and now Quincy who ran bleeding through the woods to escape Pine Cottage and the man she refers to only as HIM.  The three girls are all attempt to put their nightmares behind them, until Lisa is found dead in her bathtub.  
Review:  Luckily hit a sale for this book for $1.99  The first half of the book was good.  I couldn't imagine where it was going the rest of the way which kept me turning the pages.  A couple of big twists I didn't see coming.  Good ending.

THANK YOU to all the Peas who took the time this year to post their recommendations and reviews.  I've enjoyed reading them all !  I've found quite a few new authors/books which I never would have picked-up without the 2Peas' recommendations. 
CHEERS to adding more books to my TBR List NEXT YEAR !  BRING ON 2020 !

HAPPY NEW YEAR !

I read two this week, Regretting Youby Colleen Hoover. I enjoyed this one and had a hard time putting it down. Although I felt like I wanted more when it was over. 4 stars.

Next was Where the Forest Meets the Sky I can't believe it took me so long to read this one! It was excellent. 5 stars!

Last night I finished Lily and the Octopus. I highly recommend it, but I had a big, ugly cry near the end, but you know that always happens when a pet is involved. I gave it 4 stars because there was one section in the book where I was totally lost until I got to the next section.

I am listening to Silver Bay by Jojo Moyers. I'm about halfway through and listen to it when I'm crocheting, which hasn't been often enough lately. Work and YouTube have just sucked me in as I'm exploring new crafts.

I just downloaded from the library On Earth We Are Briefly Gorgeous. Every BookTube channel I follow has recommended this one and I can't wait to start. After that, I want to read The Five about the five women killed by Jack the Ripper. It tells their stories and not his, which intrigues me. I also want to read The Lost World so that I can send that on to a former student. And finally, I have just added The River to my list because of the recommendations here.

I read The Night Olivia Fell and really liked it! I am reading The Other Mrs. Miller and so far it's good!

I have this one waiting for me on Audible. I'm a huge fan. Glad to hear you liked it and I'm looking forward to listening to it when I finish Maybe You Should Talk To Someone by Lori Gottlieb. It takes me forever to listen to Audible books.  

Not much reading for me this week.
The first one was very short Twas the Nightshift Before Christmas by Adam Kay. He was a doctor (now a writer) working in the UK and this is a collection of anecdotes about some of the patients he saw while working over Christmas. Light & quick - 3 stars

Finished the year on a high note with The Observations by Jane Harris. This was a recommendation from someone as a "best of 2019" in my GR audiobook group.
First off I think this is definitely one to listen to rather than read as the accents are lovely (and fun) to listen to. Read by the author which makes it even more unusual as most authors make awful narrators, but this is an exception.
Set in 1863 Scotland it's a light gothic mystery that starts off humorous and gradually gets a bit darker & more serious. Bessy, the protagonist is a hoot and has some of the best sayings.
Bessy is(was) a prostitute living with a wealthy older man, and when he dies his family throws her out and she ends up working as a maid on a nearby property for a very strange lady. The mystery is what happened to some of the other maids before her...and then the lady of the house goes slowly mad.
4 stars & recommended if you listen to audiobooks.

and me too

I think I’m late to this party but I finished I AM WATCHING YOU by Teresa Driscoll. It was recommended here and I loved it. Fast, easy, engaging and not predictable. It is a missing person thriller.