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?
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.
This has been a very bookish week. It started with a Friends of the Library beard meeting. If you aren’t involved with your library Friends group (or they don’t have one) I encourage to check it out. We hosted our annual meeting event on Thursday night, a family poetry jam and it was so much fun.
On Wednesday I volunteered at the Cleveland Kids Book Bank with friends. A great nonprofit that takes used books in good condition and distributes them to the Cleveland area to schools or organizations that would like to send books home with kids who might not otherwise own books. We spent a few hours sorting.
I’ve been to library almost every day doing some prepping for our upcoming big fall book sale next week. After I get done with this post I’ll emailing all of the volunteers reminding them of their shifts. I have always loved library book sales and love coordinating these big ones. It takes a village for sure.
This week has been particularly bookish!
Posts you may have missed over the last few weeks…
The Paradise Problem by Christina Lauren. 4.25/5 stars. romance, 352 pages, 2024
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.
Happy Place by Emily Henry. 4/5 stars, romance, 400 pages, 2023
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.
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.
On the Screen…
We watched the 6 episode miniseries on Netflix. The Perfect Couple was a frilly, fun whodunit. Great cast and a beautiful Nantucket setting.
We watched season 1 of The Boys on Amazon. What a crazy, messed up ride this show is! Superheroes among us, only idolized and accepted without a check on their powers.
Plans for the weekend
We’re headed to the Guardians baseball game this afternoon. The last time I attended a game they were still the Indians so I’m excited!
Sometimes, the worst day of your life happens, and you have to figure out how to live after it.
So Clementine forms a plan to keep her heart safe: work hard, find someone decent to love, and try to remember to chase the moon. The last one is silly and obviously metaphorical, but her aunt always told her that you needed at least one big dream to keep going. And for the last year, that plan has gone off without a hitch. Mostly. The love part is hard because she doesn’t want to get too close to anyone—she isn’t sure her heart can take it.
And then she finds a strange man standing in the kitchen of her late aunt’s apartment. A man with kind eyes and a Southern drawl and a taste for lemon pies. The kind of man that, before it all, she would’ve fallen head-over-heels for. And she might again.
Except, he exists in the past. Seven years ago, to be exact. And she, quite literally, lives seven years in his future.
Her aunt always said the apartment was a pinch in time, a place where moments blended together like watercolors. And Clementine knows that if she lets her heart fall, she’ll be doomed.
After all, love is never a matter of time—but a matter of timing.
Clementine is publicist for a New York publishing company. James is a famous young chef. They’ve just met, haven’t they?
This took a few minutes for me to get in to since I thought I could see where it was going. And then it took a nice turn and I was hooked.
What happens when you meet in different times, 7 years apart. I loved this story of heartbreak and waiting, acknowledging that a person is never the same moment to moment. In love and life timing is everything. Romantic and sweet.
I listened to the audio and could have listened to him calling her Lemon all day long. Oh wait, I did that!
I did take off half a point for the somewhat slow start of the book.
Have you read it? Do you like time bending books?
I also loved her first book The Dead Romantics and gave it 5 stars last year.
June has been a good reading month, 6 fiction books, 2 nonfiction, and 10 picture books. I’ll do another post about the the 74 books I’ve read so far in a few days, but let’s get to my favorites of the month.
Favorites
I already wrote a post about this being on my favorites list here. This was a reread for me.
Don’t worry, be happy! Everyone could use some tips on how to increase the happiness in their lives and this fun book is just the thing. I loved it and have a few new tips and resources to check out. The illustrations and short entries make it perfect for daily reflection time. They cover the obvious (excercise, laugh, be grateful, turn of screens) and the unexpected (develop discipline, understand buddhist theory, get in flow, seek internal goals).
She was such an inspiration! Joining the Navy at 37 and retiring at 80, there probably won’t be another like her. Answers the question of why we call it a computer ‘bug’
It’s about the 1931 case Roberto Alvarez v. The Board of Trustees of the Lemon Grove School District. I loved the story and the art and the 6 pages of photos and extra information at the end.
It starts with Ruth’s mother wanting more for her daughter and ends with her friendship with Antonin Scalia and showed everything she did in between to make this country one that treats women more fairly.
Also Good
The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James. 4 stars, Spooky thriller, 327 pages, 2020.
There is a creepy, sinister, and forgotten feeling you get when reading about Fell, NY and The Sun Down Hotel. There are ghosts, killers, and missing and murdered girls. The book is a whole vibe.
One storyline is about Viv in 1982 and the second is about her niece Carly in 2017. Lots of parallels and mystery that will keep you reading. There are even a few boys! It didn’t love this one at first, but it didn’t take me long to be hooked.
I saw it all over my feeds, my husband told me I had to read it, my book club read it (I missed that month), and it’s STILL taken me over a year to read it. A talking octopus wasn’t really calling to me. But, dang, if I didn’t fall for that eight armed smarty, Marcellus!
Alternating, but connected, storylines about several struggling humans and one bored cephalopod make this a sweet, healing debut novel. Did I love Marcellus? Of course! Did I read through the other parts to get to Marcellus? Yes! Did I like the rest of story? After reading all of the parts I did indeed like the book, BUT it didn’t quite live up to the hype for me. The small mysteries kept the plot moving along.
I had a hard time getting into this one, but as it went on and I embraced the ridiculousness of a divorced mom with so little money her electric gets shut off becoming an inadvertent killer for hire. It ended up being fun, although I’m unlikely to continue with the series.
The colorful illustrations brought this story about Sam to life. This talks about so many aspects of being on the autism spectrum, but all to highlight Sam. I loved this one and it starts before he even gets diagnosed with tips for neurotypical kids in the back.
Peace by Baptiste Paul, Miranda Paul & Esteli Meza. 4 stars, fiction picture book, 40 pages, 2021.
efinitely for the younger child. I loved these gorgeous illustrations so much! So many great things showing what peace is, like pronouncing your friend’s name correctly and giving far more than you take. The last page talked about how war and violence around the world affects wildlife and nature. A wonderful discussion starter.
Good information for a younger girl to help understand her autism diagnosis.
She’s Not Sorry by Mary Kubica. 3.5 stars, Thriller, 330 pages, 2024
I took nurse Meaghan on a few walks this week and followed her story of caring for a coma patient while being concerned about Chicago’s serial attacker. I had a hard time connecting with Meghan and so the book was only okay for me. I liked the few twists in the second half of the book, but the end fell a little flat.
These were okay
Papa’s Mechanical Fish by Candace Fleming & Boris Kulikov. Fictional picture book about the man who made the first submarine.
Yetta the Trickster by Andrew Griffing Zimmerman and Harold Berson. Four trickster stories for younger kids.
The first of the Lucas Davenport series, Rules, of Prey, was published in 1989 and the most recent, Toxic Prey, this year. If you like police procedurals and thrillers, this is the series for you. I’ve read them all and there’s not a dud in the bunch. The last one felt especially timely and scary since it seems like it could actually happen.
He started as a Minneapolis detective, then worked special cases for politicians, and now he’s a US marshal. I love that he’s a tough guy, but he always has me rethinking moral decisions. He talks politics in relation to his job, but takes no side, a rarity. We’ve watched him meet his wife, adopt a child from a case, and have kids of his own. His friend Virgil Flowers and daughter Letty each have their own series, but I don’t read them. They both show up in this one so I don’t have to.
You can jump in anywhere in the series, but this is one that’s fun to read from the beginning.
I didn’t start reviewing them on here until book #24, but here are a few things I’ve said about the series…
Lucas, a detective, handles only those cases that the politicos need to have disappear. His role is more of a mentor as he works with the police all over Minnesota, but he still manages to get his hands dirty. He is great at what he does and possesses an authority that others look to in a time of crisis.
In this 25th book of the series, there is a shift of sorts that signals changes are afoot and it’s been this progression of Lucas that has made this a standout, must read series for me. As he turns 50 and the winds of local politics change direction it’s clear that Lucas has some decisions to make. This case involves his adopted daughter, Letty, and I love that she has had larger roles in the last few books.
This is a place of mystery, Daniel, a sanctuary. Every book, every volume you see here, has a soul. The soul of the person who wrote it and of those who read it and lived and dreamed with it. Every time a book changes hands, every time someone runs his eyes down its pages, its spirit grows and strengthens….When a library disappears, or a bookshop closes down, when a book is consigned to oblivion, those of us who know this place, its guardians, make sure that it gets here. In this place, books no longer remembered by anyone, books that are lost in time, live forever, waiting for the day when they will reach a new reader’s hands. In the shop we buy and sell them, but in truth books have no owner. Every book you see here has been somebody’s best friend. Now they have only us, Daniel. Do you think you’ll be able to keep such a secret?” (p 5)
This is my review from when I first read this in 2010…
This is a book for book lovers just in case you couldn’t tell from the passage above. In 1945, Daniel is just a boy when his father takes him to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books hidden in the back streets of Barcelona and when his obsession with the mysterious author, Julian Carax begins. Daniel chose The Shadow of Wind to take home and he soon began to search out other Carax titles. Only there weren’t any. Someone had been destroying them all one by one. Daniel was sixteen when he began to search out the books in earnest and he was aided in his quest by the cagey and charming Fermin.
I couldn’t help but fall in love with Daniel and Fermin and I was drawn into the mess they got themselves into when they started asking questions about Carax. Why were so many people trying to keep the truth hidden? And who were the good guys? The characters they meet along the way heightened the suspense and I loved them all (well, I loved their addition to the story!).
I have the attention span of a gnat these days, but this book kept me reading every spare moment I had, even if it was only a few minutes at a time. I loved the drama, the mystery, the love, the Spanish setting, the wide cast of characters, and the love and respect of books shown in the story. This book has a little bit of everything and I loved it. Since I’m rating this a 5 it is obviously one of my favorites this year!
I’ve spent the last week listening to the audio and much of what I loved the first time was still there. The atmosphere, the characters, the stories, the mystery, and the absolute devotion to the written word all combine to make this a great read. I liked experiencing the book a second time and think the reading the words on the page is the way to go with this one. I’m keeping the book on my favorites list for now as I try to work through what belongs there and why, but I’m not sure it will stay.
“Books are mirrors – you only see in them what you already have inside you.”
“In the shop we buy and sell them, but in truth books have no owner. Every book you see here has been somebody’s best friend.”
Don’t even start a Harlan Coben book unless you have time to read the whole thing. He’s been a favorite of mine since I read Tell No One (read it), but it’s his Myron and Win books that are my favorite. This is the 12th book featuring them both (13 if you include Win) and they’re both getting a little older, but still just as sarcastically fabulous as they e always been.
Myron was a star on the Duke basketball team and played one game for the Boston Celtics before a cheap shot took him off the court forever. So, he went to law school and opened his own sports representation business. The cast of characters in these books are so chock full of warmth and humor that you will fall in love with them. Personally, I’d read the books in order so that you don’t miss a minute, but you can read this as a standalone.
These are all thrillers full of twists and turns you don’t see coming. He’s the master. This one has a serial killer and some old scores being settled. And Myron’s parents are in Florida living their best lives with the help of edibles.
Broken Harbor, #4 in the Dublin Murder Squad series. 4 stars, mystery, 450 pages, 2012
This story begins with a young family murdered in their home. Well there was one survivor, but it wasn’t either of the young kids. This was an especially hard one and when I finished it on Mother’s Day it felt especially wrong.
Families can look glossy on the surface, but once you rub a bit of that shine off there’s usually something more interesting going on and in this case it was deadly. Bizarre revelations, old friends, and financial instability make the mystery of this family a tough one. This hasn’t been my favorite of the series, but they’re all so good that it didn’t need to be to be good.
The Secret Place, #5 in the Dublin Murder Squad series, 4/5 stars, 452 pages, 2014
You don’t need to read these books in order, but I’d recommend it if you can. My favorite of the series so far, Faithful Place, featured Detective Frank Mackey and he and his daughter make another appearance here. Stephen Moran is also back.
This one takes place at a boarding school for girls. A year after a boy from a neighboring school was murdered on school grounds the detectives have a new lead and it comes from inside the school. Oh, to be amongst all of that teen angst and those friendship circles again!
The book spans one day of investigation, but it goes into the past investigation and events in depth. I wasn’t crazy about it at first, boarding school stories are iffy for me, but it grew on me and Frank Mackey appeared at just the right time to reel me in for the somewaht surprising finish.
Tana French is such a talented writer! Both books had a paranormal element that mostly worked, even if I think it could have been avoided altogether in The Secret Place and been fine, or even better.
Have you read any of this series? I love the Ireland setting.
Stacy's Books 