2025 Bookish Books Reading Challenge (hosted by Yours Truly)
2025 Cover Lovers Reading Challenge (hosted by Yours Truly)
2025 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge
2025 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge
Booklist Queen's 2025 Reading Challenge
2025 52 Club Reading Challenge
2025 Craving for Cozies Reading Challenge
2025 Medical Examiner Mystery Reading Challenge
2025 Mystery Marathon Reading Challenge
2025 Mount TBR Reading Challenge
2025 Pick Your Poison Reading Challenge
2025 Around the Year in 52 Books Reading Challenge
The 100 Most Common Last Names in the U.S. Reading Challenge
The Life Skills Reading Challenge
Showing posts with label Kate Moretti. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kate Moretti. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 27, 2022
Top Ten Tuesday: The Haunting of My TBR
I'm a little late to the party today, but I didn't want to miss out on TTT. These weekly lists are pretty much all I've been managing to post lately, so...yeah. Today's official topic is Top Ten Typographic Book Covers. I'm not feeling that one; instead, I'm going to go with something more seasonal. Spooky books always appeal to me, but they're even more alluring the closer we get to Halloween. I can't handle anything too gory or horror-y these days as I'm becoming a right wimp in my old age. However, I still enjoy an atmospheric Gothic tale or a shivery ghost story, the kind that are spine-tingling without being nightmare-inducing. My favorite trope by far is the haunted house. Give me a broody old pile with a mysterious past, secrets swirling through the corridors, and plenty of ghosts in the closets (real and/or metaphorical) and I'm a happy reader. The authors I prefer in this genre are: Eve Chase, Carol Goodman, Simone St. James, Riley Sager, Jennifer McMahon, etc. If you've got any suggestions for readalike authors, let me know. In the meantime, I'll share my list of the Top Ten Haunted House Books On My TBR List.
First, though, be sure to click on over to That Artsy Reader Girl and give TTT's fearless hostess some love. Then, make your own list and enjoy a fun evening of blog hopping. It's a good time, I promise!
Top Ten Haunted House Books On My TBR List
-in no particular order-
1. The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson—For some reason, I still haven't read this classic haunted house novel. It's about four people who gather at a notoriously spook-infested old mansion. Strange happenings occur.
2. Girls of Brackenhill by Kate Moretti—When human remains are discovered at Hannah Maloney's ancestral castle in the Catskills, she's convinced they're the bones of her sister, who disappeared seventeen years ago. Obsessed with figuring out what really happened all those years ago, Hannah uncovers disturbing secrets from the past.
3. The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell—Two years ago, a young woman left her baby with her mother and headed to a party at a house in the woods. She never returned. In the present, Sophie is strolling through the forest near the boarding school where her boyfriend has just accepted a position. She sees a note that says, "Dig here." Sounds like an intriguing premise...
4. What Lives in the Woods by Lindsay Currie—This is a children's book—how creepy can it possibly be? Probably enough to scare me silly! The story is set in a decrepit old mansion deep in the Michigan woods called Woodmoor Manor. Rumors in the town say it was once the home of a mad scientist whose disturbing experiments roam through the trees, always watching.
5. The Good House by Tananarive Due—Trying to put her life back together after her son's suicide, Angela Toussaint returns to her ancestral home, the place where her boy took his own life. What she finds is a sentient evil that's causing residents of her town to act out in violence. Is it the same entity her grandmother battled long ago? Just what is it that lurks in her home—and in her family history?
6. Death Overdue by Allison Brook—The first installment in a series, this cozy mystery features a haunted library in Connecticut. When a retired homicide detective who claims to know the murderer of a beloved library aide is killed, the library's new event planner vows to find his killer.
7. Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas—Located deep in the forests of Pennsylvania, Catherine House is an elite, unconventional school that has educated some of the most brilliant minds in America. School policy demands that students leave their outside lives behind and devote three years of their lives to an intense education. Ines is finding herself inside the strange institution when tragedy strikes, making her question everything that's happening at Catherine House.
8. The Shape of Night by Tess Gerritsen—In an attempt to outrun her past and finish the cookbook she's writing, Ava Collette retreats to an old pile on the coast of Maine. Her peaceful reverie is broken when she starts hearing strange noises in the night. When an apparition appears to her, Ava begins looking into the disappearance of the house's previous renter. Something sinister is going on and Ava intends to get to the bottom of it.
9. The Winter Guest by W.C. Ryan—Once a grand Irish mansion, Kilcolgan House is now a crumbling pile filled with broken people and whispering ghosts. When Lord Kilcolgan's oldest daughter is killed, an IRA intelligence officer comes to the home to investigate. As he digs into the secrets of Kilcolgan House, he uncovers secrets galore. Can he use them to find the murderer?
10. The Haunting of Ashburn House by Darcy Coates—Coates has several books that fit this genre, but this one sounds especially good to me. Plus, I like the symmetry of ending my list with a title similar to the one I began it with. The plot concerns a woman who inherits a creepy old house after the owner, a mysterious recluse, dies. With ominous messages scrawled on the wallpaper, a hidden grave in the backyard, and portraits that seem to watch her every move, the new occupant is understandably unnerved. As she digs into the house's sinister past, she begins to believe every terrifying rumor she's ever heard about the place...
There you go, ten haunted house novels that should make for excellent, eerie Halloween reading. Have you read any of them? What did you think? Can you think of any similar books I might like? I love recs! What books did you feature on your TTT list today? I'd truly love to know. Leave me a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on your blog.
Happy TTT!
Tuesday, October 27, 2020
Top Ten Tuesday: Chills and Thrills on My TBR List
With Halloween at the end of this week, it's no surprise that today's Top Ten Tuesday topic is a holiday freebie. I don't know how you feel about Halloween, but it's not my favorite. Although I'm all about candy (as long as it's chocolate), I've never been a fan of dressing up. Just not my thing. Ghost stories have always thrilled me, although truth be told, I'm a pretty big wimp when it comes to scary things! In the past, my husband and I have spent Halloween evening sitting in our driveway handing out candy and visiting with neighbors while we supervised our kids' trick-or-treating efforts. Now that our youngest is a month away from her 12th birthday, she's decided she wants to trick-or-treat with her friends in their neighborhood without any parents tagging along. Fine by me. Way I figure it, these unwanted parents will stick a bowl of candy on our porch, turn off the lights, and stay inside with popcorn and a scary-ish movie. We'll see. What about you? Any big plans for Halloween?
Back in high school, I spent many nights hiding under my covers with a flashlight and a chilling horror novel. The older I've gotten, though, the wussier I've become. I still love me a shivery ghost story or a haunting Gothic thriller, as long as it's not too terrifying. For my TTT list, I decided to highlight some of the creepy novels from 2020 and 2021 that are on my TBR list. These are sure to give me a good fright!
Before we get to that, though, I want to give a shout out to our lovely host, Jana. Click on over to That Artsy Reader Girl to give her blog some love and find out more about Top Ten Tuesday.
Top Ten Creepy 2020-2021 Books on My TBR List
1. The Haunting of Brynn Wilder by Wendy Webb—In search of a life reset, the titular character checks into a boardinghouse on the shores of Lake Superior for the summer. There she finds camaraderie with a group of similarly lost souls. Her peace is short-lived—soon she's hearing voices, being plagued by nightmares, and wondering what's inside the mysterious room at the end of the hall ...
2. The Whispering House by Elizabeth Brooks—Haunted by the recent suicide of her sister, Freya Lyell decides to visit the place of her death. When she enters mysterious Byrne Hall, she sees a portrait of her sister hanging on the wall. Freya's never seen the picture and she knows her sister has never been to the house. What is her sister's likeness doing in a house she's never been to? What do its owners know about her death? What dark secrets is the house hiding?
3. The Shadow in the Glass by J.J.A. Harwood (coming March 18, 2021)—In this dark Cinderella retelling, a miserable maid finds her only solace in the bewitching library inside her stepfather's home. One night as she's lost in her world of books, her fairy godmother appears to grant her seven wishes. Each comes with a price—how much is Ella willing to risk for a magical respite from her many troubles?
4. Don't Tell a Soul by Kirsten Miller (coming January 26, 2021)—I read Rebecca earlier this year and was seriously underwhelmed, but this modern-day YA version still sounds compelling. It concerns Bram, a young woman who goes to live with her grieving uncle in an effort to escape her old life. The old mansion he's renovating is seriously creepy and the town he lives in is filled with suspicious, unwelcoming people who tell chilling tales about missing girls associated with her uncle's manor house. Is the place haunted? Should Bram be wary of her strange uncle?
5. The Nesting by C.J. Cooke—Set in Norway, this Gothic thriller sounds absolutely terrifying! It concerns a nanny who takes a job watching two young children while their father finishes building his dream home on an isolated fjord near a deep, looming forest. When strange things start happening in the house, the nanny begins to suspect that the kids' dead mother might not be as dead as they all supposed ...
6. Girls of Brackenhill by Kate Moretti—When her aunt dies in a car accident, a woman travels to the Catskills to help the woman's dying husband. Being there brings back haunting memories of a troubling disappearance sixteen years ago. As the woman digs into the past, disturbing family secrets start coming to light.
7. The Lost Village by Camilla Sten (coming March 23, 2021)—People have been mysteriously vanishing from an old mining town for years. Alice, a documentary filmmaker, is obsessed with the place and wants to make a movie about it. When she takes a crew to the village, strange things start to occur. Can they figure out what happened to all the missing townspeople before they become the next ones to vanish without a trace?
8. It Will Just Be Us by Jo Kaplan—A crumbling mansion on the edge of a swamp, Sam Wakefield's ancestral home is a decaying pile built by her mad ancestors. Already full of ghosts, the house shifts when Sam's pregnant sister moves in. A new ghost haunts the mansion's corridors. What does it want? And why is it leading Sam toward a mysterious forgotten room? Actually, this one might be a little too creepy for me ...
9. The Ancestor by Danielle Trussoni—When Alberta Monte receives a letter informing her that she's inherited not just a title but also a castle in Italy, she's skeptical but curious. She'll take any chance to learn more about her mysterious family. Soon, she discovers that her ancestry is much darker than she ever imagined.
10. The Initial Insult by Mindy McGinnis (coming February 3, 2021)—I enjoy McGinnis' dark YA novels, so I'm excited for her newest. The first in a planned duology, it concerns Tress Montor, a teen whose whole life changed when her parents disappeared while taking her best friend home one night. Desperate for answers, Tress uses a raucous Halloween costume party as a cover for forcing her former bestie to come clean about what really happened that night. Sounds intriguing!
Spooky books aren't on the menu for me this Halloween since I'm deep into middle-grade reading for the Cybils Awards, but I'm hoping to get to these chilling reads at some soonish point. Have you read any of them? What did you think? Are you reading anything creepy this Halloween? I'd truly love to know. Leave me a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on yours.
Happy TTT!
Tuesday, May 01, 2018
TTT: The Early Bird Gets the ARC
One of the perks of being a book blogger is gaining access to books before they become available to the general public. This is especially exciting if a book's written by a favorite author and/or is creating lots of early buzz in the publishing world. While ARC availability/distribution has changed a lot over the years I've been blogging, I still get a fair amount of them, which is one of the things that keeps this gig exciting! I'm not the only one whose greedy little heart beats triple time at the thought of hot new ARCs on my doorstep, as is evidenced by today's TTT topic: Top Ten Books I'd Slay a Lion to Get Early.
Before we get to that, though, make sure you head over to That Artsy Reader Girl to get the low-down on this fun weekly meme. You're definitely going to want to make your own list every week and join in—it's always a good time, I promise! It's a great way to spread the love throughout the book blogging community while adding to your TBR mountain chain (because you can NEVER have enough reading recommendations, amirite?).
I have to say first off that I wouldn't actually slay a lion for the following books because (1) I'm not into animal cruelty, (2) I'm a pretty big wimp (Simba would eat me long before I got anywhere close to him), and (3) I'm not that desperate. I wouldn't be above begging for the following, though:
Top Ten Books I'd Slay a Lion to Get Early
1. The Witch Elm by Tana French (available October 9, 2018)—Although details have been pretty hush-hush, Book Riot swears the Irish crime novelist's newest will be appearing in early October. Supposedly, it's a standalone (French's first) about a boy (man?) who discovers a skull on his family's land while he's in town taking care of his uncle. Honestly, I don't care if it's about how grass grows, I want to read it!
2. The Clockmaker's Daughter by Kate Morton (available October 9, 2018)—Publishing on the same day as the above, is Morton's newest. I adore everything I've ever read by her, so naturally I'd be stoked to get an early copy of this one, which appears to follow a similar dual-timeline plot as all her other novels.
4. The newest from Kristin Hannah—Yeah, yeah, I know Hannah just barely published The Great Alone. I loved that book and The Nightingale, so I'm anxiously waiting for her next big, immersive novel. I snagged an early copy of The Great Alone, so I'll keep my fingers crossed ...
5. Al Capone Throws Me a Curve by Gennifer Choldenko (available May 8, 2018)—I had no idea there was another book in this fun series coming out until I got an email offering me an early copy of it. Score! It's on its way to me as we speak and I'm super excited. If you haven't read Choldenko's excellent middle grade series about life as a kid living on Alcatraz during the 1930s, you really should.
6. A Conspiracy of Bones by Kathy Reichs (available August 21, 2018?)—It feels like I've been waiting decades for this one to come out and it looks like the wait isn't over yet. Reichs just announced that, because of health issues, she's going on sabbatical and won't be releasing the book when planned. Bummer. I have to see what happens next to Tempe Brennan, my favorite forensic anthropologist, so an early copy of this one would be especially awesome!
7. In Her Bones by Kate Moretti (available September 4, 2018)—This one certainly sounds intriguing! It's about Edie, a woman who becomes obsessed with the families of her serial killer mother's victims. When Edie is accused of murdering one of them, she launches a desperate search for the truth in an (probably futile) effort to clear her name.
8. When the Lights Go Out by Mary Kubica (available September 4, 2018)—Kubica's latest is about a woman whose social security number raises some surprising red flags. As she tries to figure out what's going on, insomnia plays with her mind making her wonder what is true and what is not. ARC, please!
9. The Second Life of Ava Rivers by Faith Gardner (available August 28, 2018)—I've read a few books with this premise, but I still find it fascinating: a person who disappeared as a child returns suddenly as a young adult, leaving their family with more questions than answers. I'm in!
10. White Elephant by Emily Raymond (available December 4, 2018)—This one's a heartwarming holiday tale about an intense white elephant gift exchange in which an ugly vase, which was once used as a murder weapon by one of the participants, comes up for grabs. Who added the vase to the exchange? What do they know? I was just kidding about the "heartwarming" part, but still, this one sounds compelling. I'd be happy to find an early copy in my mailbox!
So, there you have it, ten books I would be stoked to receive early. Which ARCs are you most coveting right now? For which others should I be begging my contacts? Leave me a comment on this post and I'll gladly return the favor.
Happy TTT!
Friday, October 07, 2016
So-So Psychological Thriller Compelling, But Lacking (With a Giveaway!)
(Image from Barnes & Noble)
When a series of suspicious events rocks Zoe's carefully-constructed world, she knows the game is up—after five years, her turbulent past has come calling. Someone is determined to take revenge and they won't stop until she's dead. How can Zoe protect herself without revealing the dark secrets she's never told anyone? If the truth comes out, her glamorous life is over. With a killer tracking her every move, everything Zoe's ever wanted and everyone she's ever loved are in the utmost danger ...
You all know I love me a good psychological thriller. The Vanishing Year by Kate Moretti is a psychological thriller, but is it a good one? Well, it's tense, fast-paced and compelling. A page-turner for sure. The plot's twisty—it's also far-fetched, with some big plot holes. Zoe's not a warm narrator, nor a particularly sympathetic one. It's tough to care much about her. That disconnect made The Vanishing Year less than satisfying. Overall, though, the novel is compelling, just not anything really spectacular.
(Readalikes: Reminded me of Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris; The First Wife by Erica Spindler; and Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson)
Grade:
If this were a movie, it would be rated:
for strong language, violence, sexual content, depictions of illegal drug use, and disturbing subject matter
To the FTC, with love: I received an e-ARC of The Vanishing Year from the generous folks at Simon & Schuster. Thank you!
*****
If you're interested in winning a signed copy of The Vanishing Year for yourself, fill out the Rafflecopter below:
Subscribe to:
Posts
(Atom)
Reading
The Haunting of Emily Grace by Elena Taylor
Listening
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
Followin' with Feedly
-
The Shakespeare Secret by D J Nix11 minutes ago
-
-
-
Week in Review #376 hours ago
-
Stacking The Shelves6 hours ago
Grab my Button!
Blog Design by:
2025 Goodreads Reading Challenge
2024 - Elementary/Middle Grade Nonfiction
2023 - Middle Grade Fiction
2022 - Middle Grade Fiction
2021 - Middle Grade Fiction
2020 - Middle Grade Fiction
