“There’s an old saying: The first lie wins. It’s not referring to the little white kind that tumble out with no thought; it refers to the big one. The one that changes the game. The one that is deliberate. The lie that sets the stage for everything that comes after it. And once the lie is told, it’s what most people believe to be true. The first lie has to be the strongest. The most important. The one that has to be told.” Chapter 5
Evie makes her living lying and she’s good at it. She makes her way through the world conning people into believing she is someone that she’s not. Her name isn’t even Evie. She left her real name behind long ago. Until. Until the day that someone shows up while she’s deep into a con using the name she was born with.
This was a twisty one. I liked ‘Evie’ and the confident way she handled herself. She had been working on her shady skills since high school and I was a little jealous at how well she could read people!
As much as I liked ‘Evie’ the plot became overly complicated by the end and it stretched how far I was willing to suspend disbelief. But, it was fun, fast, and had a satisfying ending, so I’d still say it’s a win for thriller lovers.
It was a Reece’s Book Club Pick last year and I received it in my Book Club Christmas exchange.
I read 49 middle school or late elementary school fiction books this year. I wish I had time to talk about them all, but I did face up 18 of my favorites, although just looking at some of the great ones that didn’t make the cut makes me sad because they were so good!
If you have a topic that you want a recommendation for, please ask!
I read 6 fantasy books this year, 5 of them being the A Court of Thorns and Roses series. I really liked the first three the most, but do plan on continuing when there’s more.
I read 13 fiction books, my two favorites being The Guncle and The House in Cerulean Sea (technically also fantasy). These both have sequels that I’m excited about reading in 2025.
I really liked so many of the other books too, but those two brought so much needed joy that they stood out. The Women deserves a nod here because it was something so important, women serving in the Vietnam War. It was an addictive read with much to discuss for sure.
I caught up with some of my favorite series. Robert Galbraith’s Cormoran Strike series is one of the best and the latest was excellent, yet again. I also love John Sandford’s Prey series and caught up by reading #30, 33&34. I read two more in Tana French’s Dublin Murder Squad, so good.
I also went and heard one of my faves Harlan Coben talk and sign his latest book for me. They are always quick and twisty and this one had Myron and gang!
Three new to me authors, also write some of my favorites this year. Amy Tintera has been on many favorites lists this year with Listen for the Lie. If you like podcasts, check this one out. Anthony Horowitz’s Magpie Murders is a miniseries. I haven’t watched it, but the book was good. And Karen McManus’s One of Us is Lying was a very fun YA closed room kind of murder mystery.
The rest were good too. I always love a good thriller! Any other thriller lovers? Any great series that I should jump into?
The 6 graphic novels I read this year. Five were nonfiction. I can recommend all of the nonfiction, but that vampire book might need a special audience.
If you struggle to read nonfiction there are SO MANY graphic novel/memoirs choices to help smarten you up.
The Talk by Darrin Bell. Highly recommend. Darren Bell has a white mother and a black father and it was his mother who is the first to tell him that the world will see him as different. She embarrasses him when she causes scenes calling out bias and yet his father remains largely silent. This book starts when he is 6 and has a run in with the police and they take his water gun and ends after the George Floyd murder when he has to decide if it’s the right time to have the talk about race with his own young son.
Feeding Dangerously by Andres, Orlando, and Ponticelli. Tells the story of how Jose Andres started the World Central Kitchen, heroes. These volunteers go into areas ravaged by natural disasters like hurricanes, fires, and volcanoes, but more recently into areas of active conflict and war to heal the people through home cooked meals. I’m in awe of all that this organization does.
Nat Turner by Kyle Baker. Over 200 pages of shocking, emotional, and violent black and white drawings. The only words in the book are direct quotes, most coming from Turner himself as he sat in prison. The book is powerful and some will find the images too violent. It’s not for everyone, but it made me feel the horror, and for that I applaud it. It’s the story of the slave rebellion of 1831.
Coco Chanel by Megan Hess. I picked this up because the book is gorgeous. The art mesmerized me and I also learned more about Coco too. Win win. Learning about her Nazi ties was disturbing.
Bloodlust & Bonnets by Emily McGovern. What a hoot! Lucy is a 19th century debutante who is approached to join a vampire cult. Just as she’s about to go to the dark side Lord Byron whisks her off to his magic castle on his psychic eagle. It’s just as silly as it sounds.
Seek You by Kristen Radtke. A book about American lonliness in memoir form. Lots of research, and lots to think about. The monkey experiments were heartbreaking.
I read 20 modern romances this year. My friend Karen @cover.to.bookcover runs a monthly online romance book club so at least handful were from that. I have my ongoing faves and new authors too.
YA Romance
I will read anything Nicola Yoon writes. Everything, Everything was great. Ali Hazelwood is another author I’ve enjoyed over the last few years and Check & Mate felt older than most teen books. Still a girl owning the chess circuit was pretty cool.
My Romance Go Tos
My old faithfuls came through for me this year. Funny Story by Emily Henry was, by far, my favorite romance of the year. If you don’t like romances, give this a try and tell me what you think. Katherine Center and Susan Elizabeth Phillips both had new books I loved. I read two Ashley Poston and I really liked The Seven Year Slip. Kristan Higgins has some fantastic backlist romances and I love both of the Gideon’s Cove books I read. Jasmine Guillory is a newer fave and I really liked By the Book, I guess a take on Beauty and the Beast but it didn’t quite read that way for me. Still good!
New To Me
And I read these authors for the first time and I’m already excited about reading more from them in 2025…Christina Lauren, Denise Williams, Mariana Zapata, and Tessa Bailey.
Better late than never? October reads minus two. 12 middle school fiction titles for Cybils, 1 fiction, 1 nonfiction. Some of these middle school titles are so good!
My one adult fiction book this month was perfect for the spooky season. Louise goes back to Charleston after her parents died and finds her relationship with her brother as rocky as ever and the house they grew up in full of the creepy puppets she remembered. But the longer she’s there more memories and secrets come to life.
Are puppets creepy? YES! Are they more creepy when they’re haunted? Again, YES!
Thich Nhat Hanh and I had the same birthday. Maybe that’s why his books connect with me so much. He was a Buddhist monk from the age of 16 and involved himself in engaged Buddhism to speak out against social issues. For his efforts to help end the war in Vietnam, where he was born and then exiled, Martin Luther King Jr. nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize.
He wrote over 100 books, for me this is book 11 I think. His books on mindfulness will be an asset to anyone who reads them.
This book, No Death, No Fear: Comforting Wisdom for Life, focuses on how to look at death and even how to ease the passing of those you love. This has been a part of my morning reading the past few months and I finally finished it today. Powerful and thoughtful.
“We think of our body as our self or belonging to our self. We think of our body as me or mine. But if you look deeply, you see that your body is also the body of your ancestors, of your parents, of your children, and of their children.”
“If you live without awareness it is the same as being dead.”
Middle School Fiction for first round of Cybils reading.
My favorites
Rise of the Spider by Michael Spradlin. If there is ever the perfect book to read at the exact right time, this is one. This is the first of a series and should be read in middle school history classes everywhere.
How did Hitler rise to power? Who are the people that followed him and spread hate and violence? This tells the story of 11 year old Rolf whose brother joins the National Socialist German Workers’ Party, otherwise known as Hitler Youth. Hitler isn’t in power, yet, but he is collecting people more loyal to him than to their country. The next book is titled Threat of the Spider.
This book is only 138 pages and I have at least 12 pages marked with notes and tags. Read your history to avoid repeating it.
Coyote Lost and Found by Dan Gemeinhart. My notes have these descriptive words.. charmingly enchanting, found family, unconventional, quest, mature. This book is deals with grief head on since it focuses on finding a book where her mother wrote where she wanted to be scattered. I fell in love with all of these people and I think you will too. 278 pages.
The Wrong Way Home by Kate O’Shaughnessy. A girl and her mother escape a cult, only the girl doesn’t realize that’s what it was and wants to go back. Heartbreakingly good.
The Luminous Life of Lucy Landry by Anna Rose Johnson. My notes have these descriptive words…tries so hard, loss, so much beautiful energy, imagination, belief in traditions, hero. Lucy is sent to live on a tiny island with a family who mans the lighthouse. Grief is fresh, but it’s about learning to move on and fit it with new family. 172 pages
Carter Avery’s Tricky Fourth Grade Year by Rob Buyea. My notes have these descriptive words…ADHD, special teacher, first friendships, self advocacy, feeling left out. Carter and his sister live with their grandma and the parents died when they were young, so that’s not the focus, but it’s there. 344 pages
These others were really good too
The Mystery of Locked Rooms by Lindsay Currie. Three friends try to go into an old fun house to find treasure. Sure to thrill any escape room enthusiast.
Painting the Game by Patricia MacLachlan. A sweet story of a young girl trying to become a baseball player just like her minor league pitching dad. It has a rural throwback feel with a big ending. 134 pages
The Bletchley Riddle by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin. Two storylines, one of Jakob who works at Bletchley to crack the Nazi’s Enigma cipher and one of his little sister Lizzie who believes her mother is still alive and is trying to stay off a boat to America so she can prove it. There was lots of adventure and mystery along with some legit wartime scariness. 392 pages.
The Misfits by Lisa Yee and Dan Santant. Kids with powers at a school being trained together in teams. If a kid likes superheroes, they’ll like this, the first of series.
Safiyyah’s War by Hiba Noor Khan. The story of young Safiyyah who loves the library and whose father is in charge of the Grand Mosque of Paris who joins the Nazi Resistance and saves hundreds of Jewish people. So much love for books in this one. 329 pages
Amil and the After by Veera Hiranandani. 1948 India after Amil’s family had to move from the new Pakistan to Bombay. Shows the hardship of moving to a new place.
Faker by Gordon Korman. His dad is a conman and his sister is his competition to become his number two. What happens when Trey finally wants to put down some roots? This was my first Gordon Korman and I’m not sure he’s for me.
It was a good, not remarkable, reading month. A total of 12 books, but half of those were kids.
4.5 Stars
The Paradise Problem by Christina Lauren I will be adding more Christina Lauren books to my TBR list. Fun and sexy with a bonafide hot multi millionaire as a fake husband. Sign me up (just don’t tell Jason). Did I totally buy the Cinderella-like transformation? No, but it was still fun.
The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center Charlie is a very successful screenwriter who has just written his first romcom. Emma is a Texas girl caring for her father round the clock while teaching writing classes at a local community college. They have something in common, their agent.
Emma goes to LA to help Charlie rewrite and ends up staying in his house. This brought a memory of By the Book that I read this summer that had an editor living with a writer to help write a book. I liked both books so this is a scenario that works for me. I didn’t always get Emma, but I really liked Charlie and the story hit all of the happily-ever-after requirements.
5th book in the A Court of Thorns and Roses series. (technically book #4)
What a fun ride this series is. Adventure, love, magic, lots of magic, death, battles, friendship, family, wings, winnowing, and a large cast of characters. This last one was from only two perspectives, Nesta and Cassian. I know after 751 pages I’m supposed to like Nesta, but I’m still not her biggest fan. I don’t dislike her but she’s got a lot of sharp edges that are willfully sharpened to slice. She did have a nice story progression in this one, but every few chapters she kept finding new miraculous powers and it seemed a bit much.
Happy Place by Emily Henry The six friends meet once a year in Maine for a week at the cottage, but this year will be the last since the cottage has been sold. Harriet and Wyn are there, pretending to still be engaged, even though they broke up six months ago.
There’s more than just a broken romance. Friends who are family can break your heart just as easily and a week spent nursing lies and resentment can cause fireworks.
I’ve now read all five Emily Henry books. The few that I haven’t loved as much (still loved though) have had something in the end that felt unfinished. This felt a little rushed with some issues that needed more attention in the end, but I will still read everything she writes because she’s just that good.
Giant Island by Jane Yolen and Doug Keith This is a sweet picture book. Isn’t the cover great?! Two siblings go with their grandpa and his dog to an island for fishing and exploring. They found out why it was called Giant Island. The pictures of the giant/island were so fun. And I loved the detail of the end pages. The ones in front showing the islands and the ones in back showing those same islands with their giants showing. Kids will love comparing the two.
Fantasy Series 5*A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J Maas – It’s not very often that I love the second book in a series more than the first, but here it is. Thanks to @thepageburner I am unlikely to get anything done until I’ve burned through this series. I’m listening to the audios mostly because it’s the only way that I can get my fix and still keep our house running.
It’s pure escapism which is why I need it right now. And you might too! It’s fantasy. It’s fairies. It’s humans becoming fairies. It’s full of characters that you love. There’s romance. There are battles. There are powers and wings.
That’s all I can really say without spoiling anything. Anything I say about the second book can spoil the first. Don’t start unless you’ve got some time on your hands.
4.5*A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J Maas – Book 3 in the A Court of Thorns & Roses series brings the whole gang together for the battle royale. Alliances, betrayals, magic, sacrifice, love, wings, witches, magic cauldrons, and rebirth all make this 699 pager a nice culmination.
This is not my usual fare and I’ve been thinking about what makes this such a good series for me, aside from the high adventure and intrigue. I think it’s because it’s a story of family. The one we’re born with and the one forged through love and trials. I love a good friends as family story.
4.25*A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J Maas – After the mad rush of A Court of Mist & Fury, book 3.5 was a nice breather. I’m not sure it was completely necessary, but I’ll reserve judgement until I read the last one.
The whole gang is back in Velaris recovering from the effects of a brutal war. We hear from 5 different voices, Feyre, Rhysand, Cassian, Nesta, and Morrrigan. Nesta is in a bad place. Feyre wants to make the world a better place. Elain isn’t interested in Lucien. And Amren is doing…jigsaw puzzles. I look forward to the last book to see how everything pans out.
Fiction 5*Funny Story by Emily Henry – Daphne is a children’s librarian who is about to be married to the man who brought her to Michigan last year. But what happened at the bachelor party didn’t stay at the bachelor party and now she’s got a roommate with heartbreak as big as her own. When she lies to make her ex-fiancee jealous it sets off a chain of events that have her wondering if leaving Michigan is really what her heart wants after all.
Steamy, funny, and real. Don’t miss it.
4.5* Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera– Listen for the Lie is the story of Lucy. Lucy left her small Texas town for LA five years ago after everyone there became convinced that she had killed her best friend Savvy. When a popular true crime podcaster starts sniffing around that can only mean trouble.
I loved this fast paced thriller. Once I started it was hard to put down. Lucy is such an unreliable narrator, not just because sure she still claimed amnesia from the night, but because of the voices in her head. My favorite character of the book was her day drink grandmother who is turning 80 and convinces Lucy to come home.
A fantastic thriller, especially if you love podcasts or true crime.
3*The Last Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine – Not gonna lie, this one left me feeling yucky. I really didn’t like spending time with these people. I did make it to the end and liked the twist, but can’t really say I liked the book. And why would there be a sequel? No thank you.
Cassidy Hutchinson’s desk was mere steps from the most controversial president in recent American history. Now, she provides a riveting account of her extraordinary experiences as an idealistic young woman thrust into the middle of a national crisis, where she risked everything to tell the truth about some of the most powerful people in Washington. from Goodreads
I admired Cassidy Hutchinson’s testimony before the January 6th Committee. Too few were coming forward with the truth and she was a reluctant witness, but one willing to put country above loyalty to one man.
She was an ambitious workaholic and proud to be part of the Trump spin machine. She said again and again how adept she was at the politics of it. She did not resign on January 6 like many others did and even intended to go and work for Trump in Florida. She was a tried and true Republican.
She spoke at length of her fractured relationship with her father, the close relationship she shared with Mark Meadows, and her repeated creepy encounters with Matt Gaetz.
A good 90 percent of this book paints her time in the White House as a positive. I was surprised at her change of heart. She reveled in the politics. To see her go from a Trump sychophant to truth teller was fascinating. For her it came down to something that was said to her about having to look at herself in the mirror for the rest of her life and having to live with that person. She also took great courage from the book The Last of the President’s Men by Bob Woodward and Alex Butterfield’s Congressional testimony about Richard Nixon.
After her January 6 I heard all of the Republican noise about her not having ‘real’ access and Trump saying he barely talked to her, at some point I’m pretty sure he said he didn’t even know her name. These attempts at belittling her are obviously false. Before working for Chief of Staff Mark Meadows she worked in the offices of Scalese and then Ted Cruz.
If you are considering voting for Trump, I’d read this. She was his people until she wasn’t and loyal longer than most with a conscience.
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