You know that saying about old dogs and new tricks? I've been a book blogger now for 20 years (my blogiversary is in August) in which time I have basically ignored Bookstagram. (I haven't even tried BookTube or BookTok.) I've always told myself that when book blogs go away, so will I. However, in the name of adaptability and keeping myself on publishers' radars, I've been trying to beef up my Bookstagram presence, even though I am no kind of photographer, videographer, or creative content creator. I know my way around Canva, but that's about it. It's been a bit rough and, honestly, I'm not sure this old dog can really learn new tricks. For now, I'm giving it a shot. If you have an account on Bookstagram, especially one that needs a little love, let me know and I'll give it a visit. I would love it if you would return the favor: https://www.instagram.com/blogginboutbooks/. I follow back as long as you don't use a lot of profanity or post content I find offensive. As for mine, it will be all books, no drama! 

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming...

Today's TTT prompt is a great one—Top Ten Books That Live In My Head Rent-Free—even though my mind is drawing a blank on it. I mentioned that I'm old (turning the ripe old age of 51 this year), so it shouldn't surprise you that my memory is declining rapidly. Even my favorite books are foggy in my mind. To make things easier on myself, I'm going to go rogue and do an easier topic: Top Ten Books I've Read This Month. In addition to being old, I'm also lazy, okay? LOL

As always, Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the lovely Jana over at That Artsy Reader Girl.

It just so happens that I've finished exactly ten books so far this month. Here they are in the order I read them:

* Hyperlinked titles will take you to my Goodreads review of each book.

1. Piranesi by Susanna Clarke—This odd little novel was a book club pick, chosen by a woman who adores it. None of the rest of us could quite understand why because we all thought it was confusing and weird. The writing is undeniably vivid, even lovely in places, but man, it's a strange read. Not at all my kind of thing.

The story is about a man who lives in a dreamlike world in a building with endless, empty rooms. Only one other living person exists with him. As Piranesi observes and examines his lonely existence, he begins to understand that there's more going on than meets the eye. What is this world? How has he come to be here? What is his purpose? He's determined to find the answers to his now-burning questions.

2. A Share in Death by Deborah Crombie—Published in 1993, this is the first book in Crombie's popular, long-running Duncan Kincaid/Gemma James mystery series. In this series opener, readers are introduced to Kincaid, a Superintendent with Scotland Yard, who is taking a reluctant holiday at a time-share bed and breakfast in the Yorkshire countryside. His vacation is interrupted when the hotel handyman comes to a suspicious end. The local constabulary aren't the brightest bobbies, so Kincaid steps in to help. He knows a murder when he sees one and he will solve this one, with or without help from the locals.

Although A Share in Death is definitely dated and rather slow-moving, I enjoyed it overall. I plan to keep reading the series.

3. The Silent Ones by Anna McPartlin—This Irish crime novel is set in County Kerry in 1980. Mary Shea is one of only a few female gardaí in the country, and the solo one in her quiet coastal town. Her presence is barely tolerated by her male colleagues, who harangue her with sexist jokes and catcalls, demands for tea, and thinly-veiled threats. It's only when she discovers the body of a murdered newborn on the beach, prompting the arrival of a major crimes team from Dublin, that Mary starts to earn some respect. To the astonishment of the local lads, Matt Foley, who heads the investigation, actually wants to hear Mary's opinions. When he makes her his right-hand woman, she feels seen for the first time, in spite of her colleagues' lewd suggestions and insinuations about just how closely the two are working. Mary only cares about helping Matt find out who hurt the tiny baby. It's a horrible, harrowing case that will challenge and try her, causing her to question not only her job choice but her own instincts as a garda and a woman.

Even though The Silent Ones is a heavy, depressing read, it's also atmospheric and engrossing. I blew through it in a day because the story is so compelling. This is the first book in a planned series; I can't wait for the next one.  

4. It's Not Her by Mary Kubica—This murder mystery revolves around two related families who go on vacation together at a lakeside resort in Wisconsin. Although the place turns out to be a dive, Courtney Gray is determined to make the best of it, especially for the kids, two spiky teenagers and their lovable younger sisters. There's already tension in the ranks when the unthinkable happens: Courtney's brother and sister-in-law are brutally murdered in their cottage and their teenage daughter is missing. Mouthy, rebellious 17-year-old Reese quickly becomes the police's primary suspect, but Courtney refuses to believe her niece could be capable of such a heinous crime. As the police search for answers and Courtney launches her own investigation, hidden secrets come to light, leading to a shocking conclusion to a puzzling case.

I didn't end up loving this thriller, but it definitely kept me reading. It's an engrossing, twisty page turner. 

5. Tell Me What Really Happened by Chelsea Sedoti—This zippy YA mystery is about a group of teens who go camping in the woods at the behest of Maylee Hayes, a glossy, self-obsessed social media influencer who never does anything that makes her look less than her glamorous best. Like camping. When Maylee dies mysteriously during the trip, the kids are taken to the police station for questioning. Through transcripts of their interviews with the cops, each person tells a different story about Maylee, the kids' relationships with one another, and what really happened in the woods.

Tell Me What Really Happened is a fast-paced, intriguing mystery that kept me buzzing through the pages. It's predictable, but entertaining. The transcript format gives the story a fresh feel. Incidentally, if you're doing the 52 Book Club's 2026 Reading Challenge, this book fills Prompt #3 (Written Without Quotation Marks) nicely. 

6. Caller Unknown by Gillian McAllister—McAllister's newest tells the story of a chef who flies to Texas from her home in London to spend two weeks camping with her teenage daughter, who has been in the U.S. attending a music camp. The next morning, Simone wakes up in their AirBnB to find her daughter missing. In her bed, she discovers a burner phone with a message saying that Lucy has been taken. If Simone wants to see her again, she must perform a series of dangerous tasks. If she contacts the police, her daughter dies. Desperate, Simone follows the instructions. Things quickly go from bad to worse, leaving a frantic mother running for her life, doing everything she can to save her daughter.

McAllister is one of my auto-read authors and her books are usually hits for me. Caller Unknown, though, just seems totally far-fetched and unbelievable. I couldn't put it down, true, but it was still just an average read for me.

7. Red Rising by Pierce Brown—This YA sci-fi/dystopian novel is the first in a popular series. It stars Darrow, a hotshot HellDiver who lives in an underground mining colony on Mars. As a lowly Red, his duty is to risk his life harvesting valuable helium-3, an element needed to make Mars and other planets livable for those who are stranded on a dying Earth. Despite his daily sacrifice, he lives in a brutal, impoverished community where Reds are never allowed to get ahead. When a series of tragic events offers him the unbelievable chance to lead a Red rebellion by going undercover as a rich, privileged Gold, he takes it. Proving himself brings him to the brink of death, but he has to endure it to accomplish his task of ushering in the rising of Red. 

Red Rising is a bit confusing and slow at first, but once I got into it, I enjoyed it. It's a little too similar to The Hunger Games for me, though. I wanted more originality. Still, I liked it for the most part and plan to read on in the series.

8. We Solve Murders by Richard Osman—This series opener was one of my favorite reads of 2024. It's typical Osman—upbeat, funny, clever, and entertaining—although I enjoyed it more than The Thursday Murder Club. It's a cozy read that stars a bodyguard who ropes her homebody father-in-law into helping her and her fiery new client solve a string of puzzling murders. I wanted to reread We Solve Murders in preparation for the forthcoming sequel, and it was just as fun to read the second time around.

See my full blog review here.

9. We Chase Shadows by Richard Osman (available September 15, 2026)—Stepping back into the world of We Solve Murders was so delightful! Although I didn't dig this sequel quite as much as I did the first book, I still enjoyed it a great deal. 

In this outing, the main characters from We Solve Murders have set up their own private detecting agency, which is, sadly, not getting any business. When a small-time British criminal living in Italy contacts them about the murder of his bodyguard, Amy, Steve, and Rosie hop on Rosie's private jet to meet with him. Another bodyguard is killed, then another. Someone is obviously sending a warning to the criminal, but why? And who will be next? When one of the detectives' close friends is targeted, solving the case becomes even more critical. Whodunit?

10. We Don't Talk About Carol by Kristen L. Berry—I've heard the sobering statistics about the disparity between media coverage of missing Black and brown people vs. their white counterparts, but I'm not sure I've ever read a book on the subject. This novel sheds light on that disparity. It's about a journalist who's cleaning out her late grandmother's home when she discovers a photograph of an aunt she never knew she had. She's even more shocked when she finds out that Aunt Carol was one of six Black teenaged girls who went missing from the same Raleigh neighborhood back in 1965, never to be seen again. Turns out, their disappearances were hardly investigated by the police and received no coverage in the newspapers. Incensed by the injustice, the journalist vows to find answers for the families of the Raleigh Six. In doing so, she uncovers dark family secrets that leave her questioning everything she knows. At the same time, she's struggling with questions about her identity as a sister, a daughter, a wife, a career woman, and a potential mother.

Although We Don't Talk About Carol is a heavy read, it's also an important, absorbing, and surprisingly hopeful one. It's a solid debut. I'm looking forward to seeing what Berry does next.

See my full blog review here.

There you go, the ten books I've read so far in July. Have you read any of them? What did you think? What books live rent-free in your head? I'd truly love to know. Leave me a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on your blog.

Even though I rarely stick to them, I love making seasonal TBR lists. I also enjoy hopping around to all of your blogs and seeing what you're planning to read next. So, I'm excited for today's prompt: Top Ten Books On My Summer 2026 To-Read List. I actually started doing this topic last week; if you missed Part One of my list, it's here. Today, we'll be moving onto Part Two, which consists mainly of mysteries, many of which are the first installments in a series because, you know, I'm not stuck in the middle of enough series right now! Ha ha.

As always, Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the lovely Jana over at That Artsy Reader Girl.

1. A New Lease on Death by Olivia Blacke—The good folks at St. Martin's Press have kindly sent me ARCs of all the books in the Ruby and Cordelia paranormal mystery series. Since the third installment will be published in October, I figure it's high time I finally start this series. I began reading A New Lease On Death today and I'm enjoying it so far.

The novel is about a recently-deceased woman who is unable, for some reason, to move on to the afterlife. With nothing else to do, she's been hanging out in her old apartment, even though it is now inhabited by a 20-year-old chatterbox who's too perky for her own good. When their congenial across-the-hall neighbor is murdered, the two form an unlikely partnership in order to solve what the police are dismissing as a mugging gone wrong. 

2. Under a Gilded Moon by Joy Jordan-Lake—This historical novel centers around Kerry MacGregor, a young woman who's called home from college in New York City to attend to family matters in her Appalachian hometown. Nearby, the Vanderbilts are constructing a palatial mansion called Biltmore House. The acquisition of the MacGregors' land is required to complete the building project. Caught in a collision between wealth and poverty, progress and stagnation, pride and desperation, Kerry must decide whether to sell out or hold tight to what she has in spite of the consequences.

3. Beach Thriller by Jamie Day—Day's books are hit-and-miss for me, but I'm up for reading their newest effort. It's about a novelist beset by writer's block who returns to her family home on a Massachusetts beach on strict instructions from her agent to write a best-selling novel. Haunted by her sister's death, which occurred years ago at the seaside cottage, the writer feels increasingly like she is being watched. Because she is. As the author starts to write about what really happened to her sister, it becomes crystal clear that someone will do anything to stop her from revealing the truth.

4. Time Travel for Beginners by Jaclyn Moriarty (available August 4, 2026)—Although I've read a bunch of books by Liane Moriarty, I've never explored those by her novelist sisters. Time Travel for Beginners, Jaclyn's newest, seems like a good place to start. It's about a time travel agency in Sydney, Australia, that seems to attract customers among those who need it most. The lives of three very different people are about to converge as they come together at the mysterious Agency...

5. A Deadly Inheritance by Kelley Armstrong—In Armstrong's newest YA novel, a teenager is mourning the recent loss of her mother. After the death, Lilianna is "rescued" by the wealthy, estranged grandparents she has never met. They pack her off to an exclusive boarding school which hides some sinister secrets behind its glittering facade.  

6. You Had Me at Bigfoot by Nancy Campbell Allen (available July 7, 2026)—This cozy mystery series opener sounds super fun. It stars a green investigative journalist and a award-winning war photographer who are both covering an important wedding in the Pacific Northwest. When a maid goes missing, the unlikely duo find themselves teaming up to investigate a tantalizing mystery involving a lost treasure, a web of lies, and...Sasquatch?

7. The Body at the Tower by Y.S. Lee—I've been re-reading Lee's engaging YA Victorian mystery series starring 17-year-old secret agent Mary Quinn. In this second installment, Mary disguises herself as a boy in order to go undercover to investigate a mysterious death at the clock tower of the Houses of Parliament. 

8. Murder Takes a Vacation by Laura Lippman—The first book in the Mrs. Blossom mystery series, this installment introduces the main character, a retired assistant to a private investigator. Having won the lottery, Mrs. Blossom has embarked on a cruise through France. On the flight to France, she meets Allan, the first man to interest her since the passing of her husband. Twenty-four hours later, Allan is dead in Paris, a city he is not supposed to be in. Mrs. Blossom's detecting skills are clearly needed to find out what happened to the unfortunate man.

9. The Secret Bookstore Sleuth Society by Lindsay Currie (available September 15, 2026)—Although I've been tempted in the past, I've yet to read anything by Currie, who usually writes children's horror novels. I received an e-ARC of her forthcoming book, the first installment in a new middle grade series. It revolves around four besties who become stranded in a book-themed inn during an ice storm. When a guest is murdered on the premises, they must combine their sleuthing skills to figure out whodunit.

10. A Share in Death by Deborah Crombie—As soon as I finish this post, I need to start tidying up my messy kitchen. Good thing I've got a new audiobook to start! This book, published in 1993, is the first installment in the long-running Duncan Kincaid/Gemma James series. In their first outing, the duo investigate a death at a country house party gone wrong. 

There you go, ten more books I'm hoping to read this summer. Have you read any of them? Which titles are you planning to enjoy in the next few months? I'd truly love to know. Leave me a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on your blog.