Don't forget to click on over to That Artsy Reader Girl and give some love to our gracious hostess, Jana.

Top Ten Books On My Winter TBR List  

1. Poison Lilies by Katie Tallo (available May 24, 2022)—This is my current read. Dark August, the first book in the series, was one of my first reads of 2021. I loved it and have been waiting *patiently* for a sequel. Although Poison Lilies doesn't officially come out for a while still, I got an e-ARC from Edelweiss Plus. Huzzah!

Our heroine, Augusta "Gus" Monet, has moved into an old Ottawa apartment complex. She meets her eccentric neighbor, a blind woman who hasn't left the building since the 1950s. When a corpse from the same era is found in a deep pond nearby, Gus's neighbor pays her to investigate the very cold case. 

2. Hot and Sour Suspects by Vivien Chien (available January 25, 2022)—I'm always up for the newest installment in this fun cozy mystery series, which is one of my very faves. In this one, Lana Lee helps host a speed-dating event. When one of the participant's dates is murdered and she's accused of the crime, she asks Lana to help prove her innocence. 

3. Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid—I think I'm the only one who hasn't read this buzzy mystery/thriller yet. Good thing I'm an airhead and checked out two copies from the library! Set in the 80s, the novel is about a house party gone horribly wrong. It's getting great reviews, so I'm in.

4. In the Market for Murder by T.E. Kinsey—Cath recommended this fun historical mystery series. I enjoyed the first book, so I'm excited to read the next installment which promises to be just as enjoyable. This time, it's the murder of a local farmer that has Lady Hardcastle and her maid playing Sherlock and Watson.

5. Ghost Ship by Brian Hicks—When I posted about my love for books about maritime disasters, Lark recommended this non-fiction account of the fate of the Mary Celeste. It's going to come due at the library soon, so I need to read it soon. It sounds fascinating!

6. Futureface by Alex Wagner—I'm hoping my quest to become a professional genealogist will take a step forward in 2022, as testing has been stalled for the past couple years by COVID. In the meantime, I always enjoy an intriguing family history/DNA story. This one, about a woman's search for her true identity, sounds like just the ticket.

7. I Must Betray You by Ruta Sepetys (available February 1, 2022)—I love Sepetys' historical YA novels, so her newest definitely earns a place here. Set in Communist Romania in 1989, this book features a young man who is forced to become an informer, but uses his unique position to undermine a dangerous government.

8. Tips for Magicians by Celesta Rimington—I enjoyed this author's debut middle-grade novel. Her newest is about a grieving boy who moves to a strange town in middle-of-nowhere Utah. The residents believe in a "magical entity" that grants wishes. The boy hopes it's true because he really, really needs his wish to come true...

9. The Last Daughter of York by Nicola Cornick—As much as I love historical fiction, I don't tend to read books set before the 19th Century. Still, this dual-timeline novel set in York (which I loved when I visited England a few months ago) sounds like a good one. 

10. Stiff by Mary Roach—I've been wanting to read a Roach book for forever, so I finally bought this one. It sounds absolutely fascinating!

There you go, ten books on my Winter TBR list. Have you read any of them? What did you think? What are you planning to read this winter? I'd truly love to know. Leave a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on your blog.

I'm not much for book boyfriends—I've been married to my real-life sweetheart for 24 years as of yesterday and that's better than any fictional romance!—so I was going to skip this week's Top Ten Tuesday.  Then I realized that as tomorrow is September 1, we're official 2/3 of the way through 2021.  With only four months left in the year, I started thinking about what I've read so far and what I still want to get to before 2022.  Of the 135 books I've read, only a handful have been really stand-out reads.  So, I decided to share with you the ten (well, eleven) best novels I've read so far.  Since I'm not feeling very inspired by next week's topic either, I'll post my ten non-fiction picks then.  

Before we get to that, be sure to click on over to That Artsy Reader Girl and give Jana, our lovely TTT hostess, some love!

- not including re-reads and in no particular order - 

1.  The Girls in the Stilt House by Kelly Mustian—This historical novel set in 1920s Mississippi features two young women living hardscrabble lives who must team up to cover up the unintentional murder that brings them together.  Absorbing and atmospheric, this is a beautifully-written debut.

2.  The Nature of the Beast by Louise Penny—No surprise here.  I adore the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series and this installment, the 11th, is particularly intriguing.

3.  Bluebird by Sharon Cameron (available October 5, 2021)—I've enjoyed all of Cameron's books, but this YA World War II novel is my favorite.  It has everything I love in a good hist-fic read: an atmospheric setting, a compelling plot, lovable characters, and excellent writing.

4.  Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty (available September 14, 2021)—I was thrilled to get a paper ARC of this up-and-comer from an author whose books I've enjoyed.  Not gonna lie, her last few have not been up to snuff.  This one, though?  It's a gem.  A family saga + a mystery + a funny, upbeat plot.  What's not to love?  

5.  The Bone Code by Kathy Reichs—Another no-brainer.  The long-running Tempe Brennan series is one of my favorites.  This installment, the 20th, has our intrepid heroine digging into the mystery of a storage container with two corpses stuffed inside that washes up during a South Carolina storm at the same time a horrifying flesh-eating bacteria is rearing its ugly head around the U.S..  It's another riveting page-turner from Reichs.

6.  If It Rains by Jennifer L. Wright—I just finished this debut, which tells a rich, powerful story about the Dust Bowl.  It's technically a Christian novel, but the religious elements are well-woven into the tale and never get preachy or cheesy, at least in my opinion.  It's moving, hopeful (in the end, at least), and faith-promoting.

7.  The Length of a String by Elissa Brent Weissman—This middle-grade novel was one of my first reads of the year.  I loved the story about an adopted, mixed-race girl who has to learn to come to terms with her different ethnicities, cultures, and families.  

8.  Dark August by Katie Tallo—Also read early in the year, this gritty mystery/thriller set in a mysterious ghost town, kept me turning pages late into the night.  I just saw that a sequel is being released in 2022.  Can't wait!

9.  The Nature of Fragile Things by Susan Meissner—This historical, about an Irish immigrant who travels to San Francisco to become the wife of a man she's never met and finds herself in the middle of the famous 1906 earthquake, is another atmospheric, absorbing read.  I've enjoyed lots of Meissner's books, but this one is my favorite (I think).

10.  The Lion of Mars by Jennifer L. Holm—I tend to read mostly darker, more serious fiction, so it's always nice when I come across a book that's just a fun, feel-good read.  That's exactly what this middle-grade gem is! 

11.  A Distance Too Grand by Regina Scott—This historical is also on the lighter side.  It deals with a female photographer who is determined to take her dead father's place on an 1871 expedition to the Grand Canyon.  Along with proving herself as a photographer, she also has to survive the treacherous trip and guard her heart against an old flame.  Also a Christian novel, this one is clean, uplifting, and compelling.  It's a fun start to a series I'm very much enjoying.  Thanks to Lark for the recommendation!

There you go, eleven of the best novels I've read this year.  Have you read any of them?  What did you think?  What are the best books you've come across in 2021?  I'd truly love to know.  Leave me a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on your blog.

When Augusta "Gus" Monet learns that her great-grandmother has passed away, she feels sad knowing she has no living relatives left, even if she had no great love for the lady herself.  Although the bitter old woman took in 8-year-old Gus after her mother died in a car accident, the crone had little use for children, and immediately sent her ward off to boarding school.  At 20, Gus has become a lonely grifter, following her con artist boyfriend around from city to city and mark to mark.  The inheritance of her great-grandmother's house in Ottawa represents a chance for Gus to make a clean start, sans loser boyfriend.  Without telling him, she goes "home" and takes up residence in a dilapidated house with a loyal mutt named Levi.  

As Gus explores her new digs, she comes across a box of old case files that belonged to her police detective mother.  She remembers her mom spending hours poring over these same papers and photographs, obsessing over the wrongdoings of Kep Halladay, a powerful, small-town senator whose guilt she was desperate to prove.  When Gus starts studying them for herself, she becomes just as caught up in the mystery, just as eager to bring the missing senator—whom she is sure is responsible for her mom's "accident" (among his many sins)—to justice.  Shannon Monet risked her reputation, her career, and eventually her life trying to take the man down.  Can Gus accomplish what her mother couldn't?  

Ignoring ominous "No Trespassing" signs, Gus hikes in to Elgin, the idyllic village where the Halladys once ruled supreme.  Abandoned in the wake of a toxic waste explosion, the place is now a ghost town, its charred streets and storefronts spooky in their post-apocalyptic emptiness.  As Gus explores the ruins, she comes to see that Elgin is not as unoccupied as it seems.  The secrets of the town's tortured past still linger in its poisoned air and someone will go to great lengths to make sure no one—especially not the too curious daughter of a nosy policewoman—sniffs them out.     

My library is open for limited browsing of a small, "curated" selection of books, one of which was Dark August, a debut novel by Katie Tallo.  I hadn't heard of it before but found the plot summary's mention of an abandoned town too intriguing to pass up.  While the setting captured my initial interest, the story sucked me in from word one.  Gus and Levi make an appealing duo and I definitely wanted to know what they were going to do next and how everything was going to turn out for them.  In addition, the plot of Dark August is complex and twisty, the setting is atmospheric and unique, and the vibe is tense and creepy.  How could I not be completely riveted by this well-crafted thriller?  While I did see a few of its plot curves coming, overall I found this novel an absorbing, satisfying read.  As you can imagine, Dark August is not the easiest, most uplifting book in the world, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.  

(Readalikes:  A million titles should be coming to mind, but I'm drawing a blank.  You?)