October Book Recap
Nov. 2nd, 2022 01:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
asphaltcowgrrlI had a pretty decent month, managed to read or listen to 8 books. Score. Two of them were even print books, so even better.
What I read:
The Ancestor by Danielle Trussoni. Read this for my gothic romance book group. I was intrigued by the heroine of the story being the last of an ancient line and then… it devolved into weirdness. I mean like yeti weirdness. But! It was still a very interesting read. E-book library loan.
Survive the Night by Riley Sager. I think this was my first Riley Sager novel and I really enjoyed it. The heroine is a movie buff and is even named after the hero of an old Hitchcock movie – Shadow of a Doubt – which added an element of interest. Each chapter is introduced as if it were a screenplay: interior dorm room – night. I saw a lot of reviews stating that the ending was a disappointment, but I thought it was kind of fun, and I also kind of figured it out early on (unusual for me) so it wasn’t so much of a letdown. Audible audiobook. REVIEW.
The Murder Game by Juile Apple. Read this for my Women’s Mystery book group. Julie Apple is the pen name of Catherine McKenzie, an author I enjoy. This was a pretty good book, but not as good as some of the others I’ve read by her, like Catch Me If You Can, for example. Still enjoyable. Kindle Unlimited e-book.
Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood. This book was super cute and full of sciency stuff which made me happy. There were parts of the book that made me want to rage, but the author has a great sense of humor and also a PhD (I think?) in neuroscience so it balanced out the ragey parts with laughter and hmm, interesting moments. Print book.
The Golden Couple by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen. This duo is another that I adore and I think I’ve read almost everything they’ve written so far. This was an engaging thriller involving a psychologist and a married couple with more secrets than you expect. The authors are really good with little twists that lead to a bigger reveal. Print.
The Intruder by Jeffrey Deaver. A very short audiobook that I stumbled across while trying to figure out what I wanted to listen to next. Discovered it’s the second in a series of shorts, so I’m going to need to go back and listen to the other two now. Despite only being an hour or so long, it’s an interesting mystery about a break-in. Audible Plus audiobook.
Such a Good Mother by Helen Monks Takhar. Even though I reviewed this yesterday, I honestly don’t know what to say about this. Everyone was awful, and yet, you still find a way to root for the main character. Maybe it’s because I’m a mom, I don’t know. I’d be interested to see what a non-mom might think of this. I did enjoy it, despite hating just about everyone. LOL Netgalley e-ARC (late AF too). REVIEW.
F-Bomb Affirmations: Rewire Your Brain and Become the Kickass Human You Were Meant to Be by Natalie Stokell. I have mixed feelings about this. She gives some good information on how our brains work and affect our reactions to things like stress. However, there’s a lack of showing how to put these affirmations into practice. I guess what I was hoping for was more examples of affirmations so that I could take them, tweak them, and make them more fitting to my life. Instead, she uses the same ones and changes them to fit the chapters. But, the ideas themselves are good. Telling yourself you’re allowed to want and do thinks, that you’re worthy of wanting things. Kobo e-book.
What I’m reading now:
She’s Gone by David Bell. YA-ish mystery. Hoopla e-book.
Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn. Action/thriller about a group of 60-something retired assassins. Print.
Afterlife by Marcus Sakey. Fantasy/sci-fi thriller about a guy who dies and discovers there’s a fine line between the afterlife and life. Audible Plus audiobook.
What’s next:
I’m not sure as per usual. I do have the next Bosch book – City of Bones – downloaded to start as soon as I finish Afterlife (I only have about 2 hours to go). I also pre-ordered the new Stephanie Plum book which released yesterday as well, so that’s also downloaded on my phone.
As far as e-books and print books go, I have a fun sounding one called Sign Here by Claudia Lux waiting for me. It’s about a guy who works in Hell and will get a promotion if he can get a family to sell their souls. Hahaha.
What I read:
The Ancestor by Danielle Trussoni. Read this for my gothic romance book group. I was intrigued by the heroine of the story being the last of an ancient line and then… it devolved into weirdness. I mean like yeti weirdness. But! It was still a very interesting read. E-book library loan.
Survive the Night by Riley Sager. I think this was my first Riley Sager novel and I really enjoyed it. The heroine is a movie buff and is even named after the hero of an old Hitchcock movie – Shadow of a Doubt – which added an element of interest. Each chapter is introduced as if it were a screenplay: interior dorm room – night. I saw a lot of reviews stating that the ending was a disappointment, but I thought it was kind of fun, and I also kind of figured it out early on (unusual for me) so it wasn’t so much of a letdown. Audible audiobook. REVIEW.
The Murder Game by Juile Apple. Read this for my Women’s Mystery book group. Julie Apple is the pen name of Catherine McKenzie, an author I enjoy. This was a pretty good book, but not as good as some of the others I’ve read by her, like Catch Me If You Can, for example. Still enjoyable. Kindle Unlimited e-book.
Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood. This book was super cute and full of sciency stuff which made me happy. There were parts of the book that made me want to rage, but the author has a great sense of humor and also a PhD (I think?) in neuroscience so it balanced out the ragey parts with laughter and hmm, interesting moments. Print book.
The Golden Couple by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen. This duo is another that I adore and I think I’ve read almost everything they’ve written so far. This was an engaging thriller involving a psychologist and a married couple with more secrets than you expect. The authors are really good with little twists that lead to a bigger reveal. Print.
The Intruder by Jeffrey Deaver. A very short audiobook that I stumbled across while trying to figure out what I wanted to listen to next. Discovered it’s the second in a series of shorts, so I’m going to need to go back and listen to the other two now. Despite only being an hour or so long, it’s an interesting mystery about a break-in. Audible Plus audiobook.
Such a Good Mother by Helen Monks Takhar. Even though I reviewed this yesterday, I honestly don’t know what to say about this. Everyone was awful, and yet, you still find a way to root for the main character. Maybe it’s because I’m a mom, I don’t know. I’d be interested to see what a non-mom might think of this. I did enjoy it, despite hating just about everyone. LOL Netgalley e-ARC (late AF too). REVIEW.
F-Bomb Affirmations: Rewire Your Brain and Become the Kickass Human You Were Meant to Be by Natalie Stokell. I have mixed feelings about this. She gives some good information on how our brains work and affect our reactions to things like stress. However, there’s a lack of showing how to put these affirmations into practice. I guess what I was hoping for was more examples of affirmations so that I could take them, tweak them, and make them more fitting to my life. Instead, she uses the same ones and changes them to fit the chapters. But, the ideas themselves are good. Telling yourself you’re allowed to want and do thinks, that you’re worthy of wanting things. Kobo e-book.
What I’m reading now:
She’s Gone by David Bell. YA-ish mystery. Hoopla e-book.
Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn. Action/thriller about a group of 60-something retired assassins. Print.
Afterlife by Marcus Sakey. Fantasy/sci-fi thriller about a guy who dies and discovers there’s a fine line between the afterlife and life. Audible Plus audiobook.
What’s next:
I’m not sure as per usual. I do have the next Bosch book – City of Bones – downloaded to start as soon as I finish Afterlife (I only have about 2 hours to go). I also pre-ordered the new Stephanie Plum book which released yesterday as well, so that’s also downloaded on my phone.
As far as e-books and print books go, I have a fun sounding one called Sign Here by Claudia Lux waiting for me. It’s about a guy who works in Hell and will get a promotion if he can get a family to sell their souls. Hahaha.
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no subject
Date: 2022-11-02 09:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-11-02 10:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-11-04 05:40 pm (UTC)Ali Hazelwood is THE romance writer right now with a few of the booktubers I follow and I've heard good things about her books. I will probably check one of her books out soon.
Killers of a Certain age sounds good.
no subject
Date: 2022-11-04 05:43 pm (UTC)She has a great sense of humor, which I love! Hope you enjoy her if you pick up one of her books.
It's been pretty amusing. Goes back and forth between the present and 1979 when they were starting out. Has been pretty amusing at points, too.